United States Department of the Interior - Bureau of Indian Affairs - Office of Justice Services, U.S. Government
End of Watch: Friday, December 17, 1886
Age: 34
Tour of Duty: Not available
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: December 17, 1886
Weapon Used: Gun; Unknown type
Suspect Info: Shot and killed
Officer Frank West was shot and killed by an intoxicated man at a dance near the Canadian River. The man had approached Officer West and accused him of killing his horse. He then pulled out a handgun and shot Deputy West in the neck. Officer West was able to return fire, fatally wounding the suspect.
The suspect's wife was Belle Starr, who who an accomplice of the Younger Gang. The Younger Gang was involved in the deaths of Deputy Charles Nichols and Deputy James McMahan of the Dallas County Texas Sheriff's Department in 1871 and Deputy Edwin Daniels of the St. Clair County Missouri Sheriff's Department in 1874. A relative of the suspect killed United States Deputy Marshal Floyd Wilson in 1892.
Officer West was survived by a wife and two children. He is buried in McClure Cemetery in Briartown, Oklahoma.