Federal Prohibition Agent
Roy Walter Shafer
Bureau of Prohibition – U.S. Department of the Treasury
Monday, June 30, 1930

Age: 43
Served: 6 years, 5 months
Badge #:
Panel 32E, Line 12
Not Included

Incident Details

Cause of Death:
Automobile accident
Date/Time of Incident:
Monday, June 30, 1930
06:00 am
Incident to Death Duration:
Same day
Incident Location:
U.S. 52 near Lebanon
Incident County:
Boone
Incident Township:
Center
Weapon Used:
None
Suspect Disposition:
None
Burial Place:
Mount Ephraim Cemetery, Mount Ephraim, Ohio

Share this Memorial
   

   Federal Prohibition Agent Roy Shafer was killed in a single-vehicle accident on U.S. 52, four miles south of Lebanon.

   On Sunday evening, six agents in three vehicles left the bureau's Columbus Office in Ohio to transport prohibition records to its Chicago Office in Illinois.

   The agents drove through the night without stopping and after dawn, the government truck Agent Shafer was driving left the roadway and crashed into a ditch before hitting a telephone pole.

   He was killed instantly when he suffered a broken neck and another agent riding with him was seriously injured but recovered.

   Agent Shafer, from Columbus, Ohio, was assigned to the Columbus Office where he had previously served as sheriff of Noble County, Ohio.

   He had been appointed sheriff to serve the remaining 13 months of the term of Sheriff Charles W. Moore, 50, who was shot and killed on November 20, 1923, before being elected as a Republican to serve a two-year term himself.

   Federal Prohibition Agent Shafer was survived by his wife, 21-year-old son, 14-year-old daughter, father, three brothers and four sisters.

Historical Note

• Federal Prohibition Agent Shafer is the third known federal law enforcement line of duty death in Indiana.


The responsibilities of the Bureau of Prohibition – U.S. Department of the Treasury (1927–1930) are now under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives – U.S. Department of Justice.

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This officer has been denied inclusion on the Indiana Law Enforcement and Fire Fighters Memorial in Indianapolis.

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Federal Prohibition Agent Shafer
Federal Prohibition Agent Roy Walter Shafer - Bureau of Prohibition – U.S. Department of the Treasury - INLEM.org