Deputy Constable Clarence Elmo James

Clarence Elmo James

Deputy Constable James was shot and killed while attempting to trap and arrest a robbery suspect who had robbed several couples in the area of the Lakewood Country Club.

He and a female acquaintance were sitting on a bench when he spotted a man crawling through a fence, and suddenly trotting towards them. A shootout followed in which Deputy Constable James was struck in the abdomen and mortally wounded. In his dying statement, he stated that the man started firing without saying a word.

Blood evidence indicated the killer was also wounded. No one was ever identified as the killer. Deputy Constable James died the next day.

Deputy Constable James was survived by his wife, three children, his parents, a sister, and three brothers. He was buried in the Grove Hill Cemetery in Dallas.