In the early morning hours of Friday, May 13, 1927, a sense of duty called Deputy State Sheriff Charles Halpin, a 28-year-old male, to a farm near Redfield, South Dakota. He was part of a small group of officers, including Federal Prohibition Agent Charles Bintliff, who had converged on the property with the intention of apprehending a man wanted for wounding another federal agent just a week prior.
The air was thick with the quiet tension of a pre-dawn raid as the officers made their approach at 1:30 a.m.
Upon arriving at the farm, the lawmen decided to split up to cover more ground. Deputy Halpin and Agent Bintliff proceeded towards the barn, their footsteps likely muffled by the soft earth. As they entered the dark structure to conduct their search, the very man they sought lay in wait. Without warning, the silence was shattered by the blast of a shotgun. The suspect opened fire on the two officers, striking Agent Bintliff in the chest and Deputy Halpin in the abdomen. The attack was sudden and deadly, and both men were killed instantly inside the barn.
In the immediate aftermath of the ambush, the shooter managed to escape the farm and disappear into the surrounding countryside. The tragic deaths of the two officers spurred a massive response from law enforcement and the local community. A posse of 400 men was quickly formed to hunt for the fugitive. Later that same day, the extensive search paid off when the suspect was located and surrounded. Faced with certain capture, the man who had taken the lives of Deputy Halpin and Agent Bintliff took his own life.
