On a warm summer evening in Winfield, Kansas, the community gathered for a concert by W.H. Caman's military band at the corner of Ninth Avenue and Main Street. Among the crowd on August 13, 1903, was Elmer Farnsworth, a 35-year-old White male. The festive atmosphere was shattered at approximately 9:15 p.m. when a barrage of gunfire erupted from a nearby alley. Hidden from view, Gilbert A.
Twigg, a 35-year-old Army veteran and local mill employee, indiscriminately fired a 12-gauge double-barreled shotgun into the dense crowd of men, women, and children.
Panic and chaos ensued as the joyous concert transformed into a scene of terror. Elmer Farnsworth was one of several people struck in the initial volleys of gunfire as he and three other men descended the stairs of the Odd Fellows Hall, directly in the line of fire. In total, Twigg fired multiple shots, killing nine people and wounding at least twenty-five others in an event that would come to be known as the Camon Band Massacre. Witnesses described Twigg dropping to one knee as he fired, a chilling echo of his military training.
As concertgoers scattered, two men bravely entered the alley to confront the shooter. Before they could reach him, Gilbert A. Twigg turned a. 32-caliber revolver on himself, ending his own life. An investigation into the motive behind the horrific act revealed a letter in Twigg's boarding room. In it, he expressed deep-seated resentment and a desire for revenge against the residents of Winfield, who he believed had ostracized him and interfered in his personal life, particularly following a failed romance years earlier. The attack was not the result of a conspiracy or a targeted assault on any single individual but rather the violent outburst of a deeply troubled man. Elmer Farnsworth was initially reported as dying and succumbed to his wounds, leaving behind a wife and a two-year-old son. His funeral was held at the Grace Episcopal Church and was attended by members of the I.O.O.F., the Masons, and the Red Men.
