KCPD Memorial Lest We Forget
Honoring the Fallen
Officer
Martin Hynes
Kansas City, MO Police Dept
EOW: Friday, December 30, 1881
Age: 39
DOB: 1843, Ireland
Tour of Duty: 1 year, 7 months (Sworn May 4, 1880)
Cause: Gunfire
Incident Location: Jackson CountyLocation: 10th & Main Streets
First KCPD Irish American officer killed in the line of duty

Officer Hynes was shot and killed while attempting to arrest a man for assaulting his wife.

On December 30, 1881 at approximately 5:00 pm, the police were called to the White House Saloon in regard to a disturbance. Officer Reilly was accompanied by Detective O’Hare and a Times reporter when they arrived to find a large crowd had collected. The officers contacted Maggie Crenshaw and her husband, Clay Crenshaw, in regard to the disturbance. Officers learned that Mrs. Crenshaw was planning to leave on the evening train to visit friends and family at Hot Springs, Arkansas. No arrests were made.

At about 8:30 pm on December 30, 1881, Officer Hynes was standing on the corner of 10th and Main Streets, when Maggie Crenshaw ran out of the saloon pursued by her husband. Officer Hynes, standing on the northeast corner of the intersection, hurried across Main Street to provide assistance where he confronted Clay Crenshaw on the sidewalk and took hold of Crenshaw's sleeve. Mrs. Crenshaw reported that her husband had been been drinking for two days and had assaulted her. Crenshaw became angry with Officer Hynes telling him that it was a domestic matter and that he could whip any man on the force. Crenshaw jerked his arm away from Officer Hynes' grasp and rushed back inside the saloon. While inside, Crenshaw retrieved a .45 caliber pistol from behind the bar, returned to the door flourishing the gun and entered the saloon's vestibule. Crenshaw was heard saying that no police officer was arresting him in his own house. Crenshaw took deliberate aim and fired one shot at Officer Hynes, striking him in the right side of his chest. Officer Hynes staggered slightly and returned fire, firing once. As Officer Hynes advanced into the vestibule, four more shots were fired, three by Crenshaw and one by Officer Hynes. Officer Hynes then reeled and gasped three or four times before falling dead against the inner wall of the vestibule. Dr. W.H. Louis pronounced Officer Hynes dead at the scene. Hynes wounds consisted of a gaping bullet wound through the right breast, the second finger of his left hand was broken at the knuckle and his little finger had been shattered by a bullet. The flying bullets had splintered the door and one entered the side of the wall near the stairway to the north of the saloon.

Crenshaw was seriously wounded during the firefight, sustaining gunshot wounds to the neck and abdomen. He fled the saloon through the back door, then entered another saloon down the street and requested a doctor.

Crenshaw survived, was charged with Officer Hynes' murder and tried on January 15, 1883. Following eight days of testimony and two hours of deliberation, the jury returned with a verdict of not guilty.

Officer Hynes was survived by his wife, Mary Ellen "Nellie" Hynes. He was 28 years old when he emigrated to the United States from Ireland in 1870. Officer Hynes joined the old "City Police" in 1871 and on April 15, 1874, became part of the Metropolitan Police Department when it was organized for the City of Kansas, later renamed Kansas City, Missouri in 1889. He was the first Irish-American police officer of the department killed in the line of duty and the second officer to lose his life in service to the city. Interred: St. Mary's Cemetery, 2201 Cleveland Avenue, Kansas City, MO. The site of his death bears a marker donated by the Heart of America Emerald Society commemorating his sacrifice.

Article by Brent Marchant

Kansas City Police Memorial