Dallas County Sheriff's Department, Texas
End of Watch: Friday, January 20, 1871
Age: 30
Tour of Duty: Not available
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: January 16, 1871
Weapon Used: Handgun
Suspect Info: Shot and killed
Deputies Charles Nichols and James McMahan were shot and killed while attempting to arrest a suspect.
When the officers attempted to handcuff the suspect, he produced a handgun and shot both of them.
The suspect was one of two brothers known as the James-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. The James-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 gang.
Deputy Nichols had served as a Confederate Officer in Civil War and is buried in Pioneer Cemetery, Dallas, Texas.