United States Department of the Treasury - Office of Internal Revenue, U.S. Government
End of Watch: Monday, December 24, 1900
Age: 43
Tour of Duty: Not available
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: December 12, 1900
Weapon Used: Gun; Unknown type
Suspect Info: Shot and wounded
Deputy Collector John Lanier succumbed to gunshot wounds sustained two weeks earlier as he and three federal officers engaged in a gunfight with two men driving a wagon on a road to Huntsville.
The fight resulted from a mistake of both parties concerning the intentions of the other. In the darkness the officers thought the two men in the wagon were hauling whiskey. When ordered to halt, the two men in the wagon opened fire, thinking the officers were highway robbers. The officers returned fire wounding both men. Deputy Collector Lanier was mortally wounded. The incident was called a horrible mistake. No charges were filed.
Deputy Lanier was survived by his wife and six children.