Rio Grande County Sheriff's Office, Colorado
End of Watch: Monday, August 9, 1875
Age: 41
Tour of Duty: Not available
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Gunfire (Inadvertent)
Date of Incident: August 9, 1875
Weapon Used: Shotgun
Suspect Info: Not available
Undersheriff Zach Allen was shot and killed in a case of mistaken identity.
He and a Del Norte police officer had arrested two horse thieves and placed them in the county jail. They received word that friends of the men were going to try to break them out overnight.
The Del Norte officer was tasked with guarding the jail and the two agreed that Undersheriff Allen were to give a signal when he returned. At approximately 2:00 am Undersheriff Allen returned to the jail and was challenged by the Del Norte officer. Undersheriff Allen failed to give the agreed upon signal and was shot by the officer, who didn't realize it was the undersheriff.
Undersheriff Allen acknowledged on his deathbed that he should have given the signal.
Undersheriff Allen had previously served as the sheriff of both Huerfano County and Pueblo County. He was survived by his wife and four children.