In the early hours of May 9, 1911, a sense of duty led Constable Frank Eugene Trask, a 55-year-old male, to the railroad yard in Benson, Arizona. It was there, at approximately 12:15 a.m., that he encountered a man attempting to steal a ride on a train. What began as a routine effort to uphold the law quickly escalated into a fatal confrontation.
Constable Trask, who also served as a Deputy Sheriff for Cochise County, ordered the man to stop.
When his commands were ignored, the situation turned violent. An exchange of gunfire ensued, with a total of five shots piercing the night air. In the chaos, Constable Trask was struck and killed instantly. The suspect he was trying to apprehend was seriously wounded in the exchange.
The man who fired the fatal shots was taken into custody and subsequently charged with murder. In his defense, he claimed that he had not recognized Trask as a law enforcement officer and instead believed he was the target of a robbery. Despite his injuries, the suspect recovered and faced legal proceedings for the death of the constable. The outcome of the legal case is not detailed in the available information. At the time of his death, Frank Eugene Trask was survived by a son and daughter, his mother, and two sisters.
