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.

Read more on our research at Honoring Our Fallen Sheriffs.