Special Officer L. Frank Cornelius

L. Frank Cornelius

Special Officer Frank Cornelius was shot and killed in Oklahoma City by two men who attempted to rob him at gunpoint.

While patrolling at the 100 block of West Noble Avenue (present-day 2nd Street), two men approached him and told him to hold his hands up. When the subjects became distracted by a passing car, he drew his weapon, and a shootout ensued in which he was fatally wounded.

Officer Cornelius was taken to University Hospital, where he succumbed to his wounds two days later.

Two suspects, 18 and 19, were apprehended in Sulpher two months later and charged with murder. On March 30, 1921, they were convicted of Officer Cornelius' murder and sentenced to life. Both were paroled on May 4, 1923.

Officer Cornelius had served in WWI and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and the Croix de Guerre. He had served with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad Police Department for a year and had previously served as a night policeman in Norman, Oklahoma. He was survived by two brothers and one sister.

He is buried in Wynnewood, Oklahoma. His brother, Investigator Oliver Holmes Cornelius, died in the line of duty on February 20, 1950.