Constable Larkin Secrest Hope

Larkin Secrest Hope

Constable Larkin Hope was shot and killed while standing in front of a store.

The assassin was standing in the alley between the store and the butcher shop; there were two loud, sharp shots, an intermission, and three shots from the pistol of the officer as he lay in the gutter just outside the sidewalk. The assassin had his horse hitched in the alley - which runs from street to street - where he reloaded his gun, mounted the horse, started west, rode north, turned and crossed the bridge on the east side of town.

Constable Hope was shot in the left side, hip, and abdomen, and when friends came up and asked him who shot him, he endeavored to answer but was unable to articulate. He was carried into the drug store of Byars & Byars, his wounds dressed and every means used to restore him, but succumbed to his wounds within half an hour of the shooting.

Sheriff Reese and Marshal Walker were on the scene immediately after the shooting and set out to catch the assassin but a suspect was never apprehended.

Constable Hope had served with the agency for three years and was survived by his wife and four children. He is buried in Odd Fellows Rest Cemetery, Columbus, Colorado County, Texas.