Patrol Inspector Doyne C. Melton

Doyne C. Melton

Patrol Inspector Doyne Melton was shot and killed as he and several other inspectors attempted to apprehend 13 smugglers at the foot of Park Street as they waded ashore in El Paso, Texas, with 150 cases of illegal liquor.

One smuggler hidden on the American side opened fire, as did the other smugglers. Inspector Melton was struck in the heart in the opening volley and died at the scene.

The other inspectors shot and killed two smugglers and wounded another as they fled back into Mexico.

Inspector Melton was a United States Marine Corps veteran and served with the United States Border Patrol for six years. He was survived by his wife.

He was buried in Conyers, Georgia.

Twenty days later, on December 27, 1933, U.S. Border Patrol Inspector Bert G. Walthall, who had survived the gun battle that killed Inspector Melton, was shot and killed by smugglers in El Paso County.