Detective Sam Booth

Sam Booth was born June 11, 1882 , in Fort Smith . He was a Fort Smith Police Detective when he was shot and killed. Detective Booth was married to Kate Booth at the time of his death. Sam and Kate Booth lived with their three children—Sam Jr., Mildred, and Lucile—at 613 South 13th Street in Fort Smith . Detective Sam Booth was the first Fort Smith Police Officer to die in the line of duty. He was shot near the intersection of Towson Avenue and Rogers Avenue around 7:00P.M., March 21, 1931, after he and his partner, Detective D.M. Willis, stopped two youths for speeding at Towson and South “E” Street. Apparently the two young men—one of whom gave his name as Tom Moore from Poteau , Oklahoma —knew the officers, as they called the detectives by name. At the time, the officers were unaware that the car the youths were driving had been stolen from the parking lot of St. Edward Hospital about an hour earlier. The officers decided that Detective Willis would pick up the night captain, and Detective Booth would ride to the jail with the young men in their car. According to an eyewitness, the stolen coupe pulled to the curb immediately after turning east on Rogers Avenue . All three occupants scrambled from the vehicle. Detective Booth, who had already been shot once, had his pistol in his hand when he exited the car. More shots were exchanged between the officer and one of the young men. Both youths then ran away and Detective Booth, now mortally wounded after being shot four times, walked south down the alley from Rogers Avenue and entered the back door of Rudisill Motor Company, 111 Towson Avenue. Staggering through the building and holding his pistol stiffly at his side, Detective Booth said to Archie Franklin, salesman for the motor company, “Call me an ambulance, I’m shot all to pieces! Take me to St. Edward Hospital and call Dr. Stevenson.” Although Mr. Franklin tried to get a description of the killers, the detective became incoherent. Detective Booth died less than 30 minutes later at St. Edward Hospital . The slain detective was laid to rest in the Catholic Cemetery in Fort Smith on the 25th day of March. Detective Sam Booth was 48 years old.