Federal Prohibition Agent Charles Bintliff

Charles Bintliff

Federal Prohibition Agent Charles Bintliff and Deputy State Sheriff Charles Halpin, of the South Dakota Office of the State Sheriff, were shot and killed near Redfield, South Dakota, while attempting to arrest a man who had wounded another federal agent one week earlier.

Deputy Sheriff Halpin, Agent Bintliff, and two other officers arrived at the man's farm near Redfield at 1:30 a.m. The officers separated, and Deputy Halpin and Agent Bintliff went to search the barn. As the two searched the barn, the man opened fire on them with a shotgun, striking Agent Bintliff in the chest and Deputy Halpin in the abdomen. Both men were killed instantly.

The suspect fled but committed suicide after a posse of 400 men surrounded him later in the day.

Agent Bintliff was a United States Army veteran and had served with the United States Department of the Treasury - Internal Revenue Service - Bureau of Prohibition for seven years. He was survived by his wife.