Patrolman Gayle Lamar Holmes

Gayle Lamar Holmes

Patrolman Holmes and Sheriff Paul Vinson of the King County Sheriff's Department, Texas, were shot and killed while responding to a disturbance call outside a rural store between Paducah and Guthrie.

While they were placing one man in the patrol car, another man stepped onto the store's porch behind them and began firing. A third highway patrolman returned fire but suffered no injury.

The suspect, 20, was taken into custody at a ranch about a mile away. He was later convicted of Sheriff Vinson's murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was denied parole on March 16, 2018. His next parole hearing is in January of 2023.

Patrolman Holmes had been with the Texas Department of Public Safety - Texas Highway Patrol for only 12 days and was stationed at Spur. He was survived by his wife and child.