Captain William A. Bourland

William Andrew Bourland was born February 28, 1880 , in Belle Green, Alabama . He was a Captain on the Fort Smith Police Department when he was shot and killed. William Bourland and his wife, Mabel, lived at 611 North “E” Street in Fort Smith and had four children, John D., Clyde , William H., and Katie. Captain Bourland was a member of First Methodist Church .

A gun battle between Fort Smith police officers and three armed robbers on the night of September 2, 1931 , resulted in the deaths of both Captain William Bourland and Officer Ralph Howard. Three men robbed a Spiro, Oklahoma , service station around 8:00P.M. that night and were spotted around 11:30P.M. by the Fort Smith officers who were looking for them on Spiro highway. The robbers attempted to elude the officers who pursued them into Fort Smith traveling east on South “Y” Street to its intersection with Towson Avenue . As the vehicles started north on Towson , the police officers forced the robbers off the street and a gunfight erupted. All three robbers were wounded and one of them died while still in the car. Funeral records from Putman Funeral Home indicate that Captain Bourland was shot in the head, and in both the left and right chest. Captain Bourland died that night as he was being carried into St. Edward Hospital . He was laid to rest on the 4th of September in the National Cemetery in Fort Smith . Captain William Bourland was 51 years old.