Deputy State Sheriff Charles A. Halpin

Charles A. Halpin

Deputy State Sheriff Charles Halpin and Federal Prohibition Agent Charles Bintliff, of the United States Treasury Department, were shot and killed near Redfield, South Dakota, while attempting to arrest a man who had wounded another federal agent one week earlier.

Deputy Sheriff Halpin, Agent Bintliff, and two other officers arrived at the man's farm near Redfield at 1:30 a.m. The officers separated, and Deputy Halpin and Agent Bintliff went to search the barn. As the two searched the barn, the man opened fire on them with a shotgun, striking Agent Bintliff in the chest and Deputy Halpin in the abdomen. Both men were killed instantly.

The suspect fled but committed suicide after a posse of 400 men surrounded him later in the day.

Deputy State Sheriff Halpin was a United States WWI veteran and afterwards served with the United States Secret Service. He had served with the South Dakota Office of the State Sheriff for four months. He was survived by his wife, two sons, mother, and three brothers.