Dallas County Sheriff's Department, Texas
End of Watch: Monday, January 16, 1871
Age: 27
Tour of Duty: 1 day
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: January 16, 1871
Weapon Used: Handgun
Suspect Info: Not available
Deputy James McMahan and Deputy Charles Nichols were shot and killed while attempting to arrest a suspect. While the officers attempted to handcuff him he produced a handgun and shot both officers.
The suspect was one of two brothers, John Younger, known as the Younger Gang who shot and killed Deputy Edwin Daniels, of the St. Clair County, Missouri, Sheriff's Department, on March 17, 1874. The brother who murdered Deputy Nichols and Deputy McMahan was also shot and killed in the shootout known as the Roscoe Gunfight. The Younger Gang was also connected to the death of Bureau of Indian Affairs Police Officer Frank West in 1886 by the husband of Bell Starr, an accomplice of the Younger Gang.
Deputy McMahan had served with the agency for one day. He was survived by his wife and is buried in Pioneer Cemetery in Dallas, Texas.