In the early morning hours of May 22, 1901, a tragic accident claimed the life of 40-year-old White / Caucasian male, Allen Moore, the first Lawrence police officer to die in the line of duty. Known at the time as the “North Lawrence Officer,” he had just begun his midnight shift and was at the Union Pacific train depot. While inside the telegraph office, Moore, a respected figure in the community, was seated in a chair. As was customary for officers of that era for quick access to their weapon, his revolver was positioned in its holster around his waist, covering his midsection.
As he rose from the chair, his revolver slipped from its holster and fell to the floor. The impact caused the weapon to discharge, firing a single bullet that struck him in the stomach and passed through his back. There were no suspects and no arrests were made as his death was the result of a fatal accident. Aid was immediately summoned, and the grievously wounded officer was transported to the nearby home of a friend, King Adams. Despite the tender care he received, the wound proved to be mortal.
Aware that his life was ending, Moore, a widower whose wife had passed away about four years prior, gathered his six children to his bedside. He counseled them to live upright lives, expressing that he had done his best to raise them well since their mother’s death and asked them to now mind their grandmother. He spoke of rejoining their mother in heaven and expressed his hope for them all to be reunited there one day. Surrounded by his children, his aged mother, and friends, including Marshall Prentice, Allen Moore succumbed to his injury at 6:30 that morning, leaving behind a legacy of service and a community in mourning.
