Learn Our History Today: On May 23, 1934, Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker, a.k.a. Bonnie and Clyde, were killed on a rural road in Bienville Parish, Louisiana, by a posse of Texas and Louisiana law officers led by former Texas Ranger Frank Hamer. The two outlaws had come into contact with one another years earlier when Bonnie’s husband was serving time in jail for murder, quickly developing a close relationship with one another. When Barrow was later arrested for robbery, Parker came to visit him at every available moment and even helped smuggle a gun into the jail for him to use in an escape, which in the end would prove to unsuccessful. When Barrow was released in 1932, he and Parker teamed with a group of relatives and old friends to form what was collectively known as the Barrow gang. Together this gang set out and robbed a string of banks and stores across the south and southwest. This group was known by the police to be cold blooded killers who wouldn’t hesitate to kill anyone who got in their way, especially law enforcement. To the public however, the Barrow gang’s reputation as dangerous outlaws was infused with the romantic view of group, and more specifically Bonnie and Clyde, as Robin Hood like heroes of the people. However, as more and more bodies began piling up in the robbers wake, the public began to see them for what they really were, criminals. In accordance, Texas Ranger Frank Hamer was called out of retirement and tasked with tracking down the outlaws, tracing them to rural Louisiana where the relatives of one of the gang members resided. Hamer and a posse of law officers waited in ambush along a country road they knew Bonnie and Clyde would have to pass through, armed to the teeth with automatic rifles, pistols, and shotguns. As the outlaws’ car sped toward them, the lawmen opened up - spraying the duo’s car with more than 100 rounds of ammo, killing both instantly. The two were reportedly hit with as many as fifty bullets each.
Posted on: Fri, 23 May 2014 23:43:52 +0000
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