Police Officer Thomas Ward

Thomas Ward

Officer Ward and Lieutenant Smith were shot and killed after responding to the scene of an armed robbery on Meramec Street. A passerby had alerted the officers to the robbery and several officers surrounded the building. As the robbers came an intense shootout erupted. The getaway driver fled the scene, leaving the three armed men alone. A running gun battle took them to a house on Minnesota Street where the men took refuge in the basement of a house. As officers attempted to surround the house both Lieutenant Smith and Officer Ward were shot. The three men were eventually apprehended.
Officer Ward succumbed to his wounds the following day and Lieutenant Smith succumbed to his wounds one month later.

The three suspects were convicted of murder. Two were sentenced to life and the other to 30 years. The one sentenced to thirty years was paroled in 1936. Three years later he was convicted of possession of counterfeit money and sentenced to five years in federal prison.

Officer Ward had been with the agency for 24 years and was survived by his sister.