Deputy Sheriff William Thomas Beasley

William Thomas Beasley

Deputy Sheriff William Beasley was shot and killed while he and other deputies were setting up a sting on a bank in the Red Fork area of Tulsa.

The Tulsa County sheriff had received a tip that the bank would be robbed, so he and four deputies set up an ambush. Deputy Beasley was inside a barn across the street from the bank. When the suspects exited the bank after robbing it they were ordered to put their hands up. Instead, the suspects began to shoot. Officers and citizens returned fire, fatally wounding two of three suspects.

When the deputies returned to the scene, they realized that Deputy Beasley was missing. The sheriff returned to the scene and found Deputy Beasley in the barn, having died from a bullet wound. It is thought that he was struck by a stray bullet fired by a citizen during the shootout.

Deputy Beasley had served with the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office for nine months and previously served with the Tulsa Police Department, Bartlesville Police Department (Oklahoma), and as law enforcement officer in California. He was survived by his five children.