In Memory: Officer John Gaines

Officer John Gaines, the only African American officer on the Austin police force, was shot by George Booth, a deputy constable, at 6th Street and Trinity Street. on November 19, 1913. Booth, who had been making a disturbance, shot Officer Gaines while Gaines was on the telephone summoning help from the police station. At that time, African-American officers were not allowed to arrest whites. Officer Gaines and his wife, Sarah, were originally from Big Spring, Texas.

Tom Allen, age unknown, (October 24, 1915)
Officer Tom Allen, Austin's only African-American police officer since the death of John Gaines two years earlier, was shot and killed at Jennings' Drug Store in the 400 block of East 6th Street. The shooting followed an argument between Officer Allen and the editor of a black newspaper in San Antonio. Officer Allen was angered by reports that he had mistreated several African-American women he had arrested. After a confrontation with the editor by the wagon yard near Red River Street, Officer Allen followed the man to Jennings' drugstore. The editor, arriving first, drew a handgun from a briefcase he had left at the store and shot Officer Allen as he entered, his own gun drawn and ready. According to a newspaper story of the time, Officer Allen was killed only thirty feet from the site where Officer John Gaines had died two years earlier.