Deputy Marshal Robert J. Hammers

Robert J. Hammers

Deputy Marshal Robert Hammers was shot and killed in front of a local bank while on patrol shortly after 1:00 am.

He encountered a gang of five men who were planning a robbery at the bank. Deputy Marshal Hammers was struck by a shotgun blast and a pistol shot during the ensuing shootout with the suspects. All five suspects were apprehended the next day at a home near Mannford, Oklahoma.

All five suspects were members of a notorious gang of outlaws with ties to the Pretty Boy Floyd and Karpis-Barker gangs. They were responsible for several bank robberies in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri. All were sentenced to lengthy prison terms in the Oklahoma Penitentiary.

On June 5, 1936, two of the suspects were charged with Deputy Marshal Hammers' murder and returned to Kansas. On March 3, 1937, they were convicted of his murder and sentenced to life.

Deputy Marshal Hammers is survived by his wife, four children, mother, two brothers, and sister.