Illinois Central Railroad Police Department, Railroad Police
End of Watch: Wednesday, July 27, 1927
Age: 35
Tour of Duty: Not available
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: July 25, 1927
Weapon Used: Handgun
Suspect Info: Arrested
Special Agent Louis Baum succumbed to gunshot wounds sustained two days earlier while investigating two men in the Illinois Central Railroad yards in Raines, Tennessee.
He had been assigned to the yards to investigate recent gasoline thefts. During his patrol he observed two men walking towards a gasoline shed and he began to approach them. The men separated and, as Special Agent Baum attempted to contact one of them, he was shot in the abdomen.
He was taken to a hospital Memphis where he died from his wound.
The two subjects were arrested in Pulaski, Illinois, for an unrelated crime. One of the subjects was later shot and killed during an escape attempt. Following his death, the second juvenile subject admitted that he and his accomplice had committed 17 crimes, including Special Agent Baum's murder.
Special Agent Baum was survived by his wife.