Federal Prohibition Agent Roy Walter Shafer

Roy Walter Shafer

Federal Prohibition Agent Roy Shafer was killed instantly in an automobile crash on U.S. 52, eight miles south of Lebanon, Indiana.

On Sunday evening, several agents in three vehicles left the bureau's Columbus, Ohio, office to transport prohibition records to its Chicago, Illinois, office. The agents drove through the night without stopping and, at about 6:00 am, the government vehicle Special Agent Shafer was driving left the roadway and crashed into a ditch before hitting a telephone pole. Special Agent Shafer suffered a broken neck and another agent riding with him was seriously injured but recovered.

Special Agent Shafer had served with the Bureau of Prohibition for three years and had previously served as sheriff of Noble County, Ohio. He had been appointed to the office after the murder of Sheriff Charles W. Moore on November 20th, 1923. He was subsequently elected to two additional terms. Special Agent Shafer was survived by his wife, son, daughter, three brothers, two sisters, and father.