In an attempt to apprehend members of the notorious Cotton Top Walker Gang as they fled a bank robbery, Beggs Police Chief W.J. McAnally was shot and killed. The violent encounter also resulted in the death of a female bystander who was caught in the crossfire. Chief McAnally, a four-year veteran of the department, was survived by his wife and children.
The outlaws responsible for the Chief's murder were a brazen group led by the Kimes brothers. One of the brothers, Matthew Kimes, had previously escaped from prison after being convicted of manslaughter in the 27, 1926, killing of Sequoyah County Deputy Perry Chuculate. Following his escape, Kimes and the Cotton Top Walker Gang continued a crime spree that included multiple bank robberies and the murders of several other law enforcement officers across Texas and Oklahoma.
Following the murder of Chief McAnally, a manhunt for the gang members ensued. One of the suspects in the Chief's killing was eventually captured, convicted of murder, and sentenced to life in prison. After being paroled in 1948, he violated his parole and was returned to prison, where he died in 1961. Matthew Kimes, a leader of the gang, was apprehended in Flagstaff, Arizona, on June 23, 1927.
