Frank Hamer, the Legendary Texas Ranger
The first shot from the lawmen who ambushed Bonnie and Clyde on May 23,1934, hit Clyde Barrow in the head and killed him instantly. Led by storied Texas Ranger Frank Hamer, the posse fired more than 100 rounds at the two serial murderers. They riddled the Ford Deluxe V8 with 167 bullets; 17 hit Bonnie and 26 hit Clyde. One snapped his spine.
“I would have gotten sick,” the 50-year-old lawman said of seeing Bonnie Parker slumped forward, bloody head between her knees. “But when I thought about her crimes, I didn’t. I hated to shoot a woman — but I remembered the way in which Bonnie had taken part in the murder of nine peace officers. I remembered how she kicked the body of the highway patrolman at Grapevine and fired a bullet into his body as he lay on the ground.”
Before that murder on Easter Sunday north of Dallas, Bonnie and Clyde rampaged through the Midwest. They robbed banks and killed anyone who got in their way, and some who didn’t. They left 13 dead.
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