They died as they lived, by the gun | Bonnie and Clyde

Posted on May 23, 2013 | Comments Off on They died as they lived, by the gun | Bonnie and Clyde

At approximately 9:15 am on May 23, the posse, concealed in the bushes and almost ready to concede defeat, heard Barrow’s stolen Ford V8 approaching at a high speed. The posse’s official report had Barrow stopping to speak with Henry Methvin’s father, planted there with his truck that morning to distract him and force him into the lane closer to the posse. The lawmen then opened fire, killing Barrow and Parker while shooting a combined total of approximately 130 rounds. All accounts of the ambush, including his own, agree that Oakley fired first, and probably before any order was given to do so.[108][110][111] Barrow was killed instantly by Oakley’s initial head shot, but Parker had a moment to reflect; Hinton reported hearing her scream as she realized Barrow was dead before the shooting at her began in earnest.[108] The officers emptied the specially ordered automatic rifles, as well as other rifles, shotguns, and pistols at the car,[107] and any one of many wounds would have been fatal to either of the fugitives.[112] According to statements made by Ted Hinton and Bob Alcorn:

“Each of us six officers had a shotgun and an automatic rifle and pistols. We opened fire with the automatic rifles. They were emptied before the car got even with us. Then we used shotguns … There was smoke coming from the car, and it looked like it was on fire. After shooting the shotguns, we emptied the pistols at the car, which had passed us and ran into a ditch about 50 yards on down the road. It almost turned over. We kept shooting at the car even after it stopped. We weren’t taking any chances.”[105]
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