My Father told me a story about the worst gun fight, Officers of the law ever had and still holds the terrible record for a gun battle “killed in the line of duty” to this day. January 2nd of 1932 Police went to a farm southwest of Springfield MO to arrest three brothers of the Young family Paul, Jennings and Harry. What happened next is told in detail in a pamphlet written to prevent police officers everywhere from falling into a trap of this nature. The Young brothers were known to be very good with a gun and they proved it many times in shooting contests around the area. Six officers lay dead around the farm house after the battle and two wounded managed to get away in a patrol car that was riddled with bullets. Later Jennings and Harry were surrounded in a boarding house in Houston Texas and committed suicide in a bathroom. I don’t remember if he said he knew the men personally but he must have known of them since he didn’t live very far from the farm. He was 19 years old at the time and he said he went to the farm the day after the gun battle and saw the bark on the trees shot away “bout as high as a mans head” and the blood on the ground at the base of the trees. The Family was well respected in the area except for the three brothers who for some reason went for a life of crime while the rest of the family did their best to be upright citizens. The whole story can be read on line from the pamphlet… The Young brothers Massacre