Indianapolis Police Department, Indiana
End of Watch: Monday, April 27, 1936
Age:
Tour of Duty: 13 years
Badge Number: 455
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: April 27, 1936
Weapon Used: Rifle; Machine gun
Suspect Info: Executed in 1938
Officer Richard Rivers was shot and killed by members of the Brady Gang who had gone to a doctor's house to have a companion's gunshot wounds treated. Officers went to the home of the doctor in response to a report that a man at that address had suffered a gunshot wound. Officer Rivers was gunned down in a hail of machine-gun fire upon their arrival.
The gang members all fled the scene and two were captured a year later. Another suspect was convicted of bank robbery and the murder of Trooper Paul Minneman of the Indiana State Police on May 27, 1937, under federal law and sentenced to death. On November 18, 1938, he was executed by electrocution at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City.
Although never proven, the Brady Gang was also suspected of murdering Officer Frank Levy of the Anderson Police Department on November 25, 1935.
Officer Rivers had served with the Indianapolis Police Department for 13 years.