23 May 1934

Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker were ambushed by a six man posse near Bienville Parish, Louisiana on this date.  The posse of four Texas officers and two from Louisiana, were led by former Texas Ranger Frank Hamer.  Armed with Browning Automatic Rifles (BAR), shotguns, and automatic handguns, the posse waited for the outlaws along a rural road.  At around 9:15am, with the officers almost ready to give up on their trap, Barrow’s stolen ’34 Ford V8 Coupe Deluxe was heard coming down the road.  LA Deputy Prentiss Oakley fired first, then the remaining officers opened fire.  Official reports had over 130 rounds being fired at the fugitives, although there are reports of 167 bullet holes in the Ford.  Barrow was killed instantly with a shot to the head, Parker ended up with 26 (official) bullet wounds, any number of which would have been fatal.  Barrow was shot, officially, 17 times.  There were so many bullet holes, that the undertaker C.F. Bailey would have trouble embalming the bodies, because they couldn’t contain the embalming fluid.

“Each of us six officers had a shotgun and an automatic rifle and pistols. We opened fire with the BAR’s. They were emptied before the car got even with us. Then we used shotguns … There was smoke coming from the car, and it looked like it was on fire. After shooting the shotguns, we emptied the pistols at the car, which had passed us and ran into a ditch about 50 yards on down the road. It almost turned over. We kept shooting at the car even after it stopped. We weren’t taking any chances.”  ————Ted Hinton and Bob Alcorn  quoted in the Dallas Dispatch 5/24/34