KCPD Memorial Lest We Forget
Honoring the Fallen
Officer
Thomas J. McAuliffe
Kansas City, MO Police Dept
End of Watch: Friday, June 25, 1937
Date of incident:
Age: 52
DOB: Oct 15, 1884, Ireland
Tour of Duty: 5 years
Cause: Gunfire
Suspect: Apprehended

Officer Thomas McAuliffe was shot and killed after responding to a disturbance.

At approximately 11:00 pm on June 24th, The suspect, an Oklahoma pipeline worker named Earl Green, had been thrown out of a boarding house at 620 E. 14th Street after the propietor discovered him choking a woman in a dispute over $11. The suspect went to a tavern and gambling house at 701 E. 14th Street and began drinking heavily. He was eventually thrown out of the bar but returned and ordered more alcohol. Officer McAuliffe walked into the bar and spoke to the suspect who requested the officer help him get his money back. Officer McAuliffe refused and turned to leave only to have the suspect grab his revolver and shoot Officer McAuliffe in the abdomen. Officer McAuliffe's partner, Officer James Messick trapped the suspect in the saloon's washroom. After several failed attempts to get the suspect to surrender Sergeant L. A. Myers fired his shotgun into the washroom and wounded the suspect who was taken into custody. Officer McAuliffe's empty revolver was recovered from the washroom. Officer McAuliffe died from his wounds at 1:30 am on June 25, 1937.

Officer McAuliffe, 52, born in Ireland, had served with the Kansas City Police Department for five years and previously served with the department for several years approximately twenty years prior to his death. He was survived by his wife, Mary, and two daughters, Catherine and Marie. Interment was at St. Mary's Cemetery.

Article by Brent Marchant

Kansas City Police Memorial