Officers James Sweeney and Birt Brannon were shot and killed by a group of vagrants.

On April 23, 1901 at around 1:30 am, Officers Brannon and Sweeney were checking boxcars on the Kansas City Southern tracks east of the station when they noticed six men getting into a boxcar. The officers approached the boxcar, ordered the men out and advised them they were under arrest. They moved off toward the station with five men in front of Officers Brannon and Sweeney and two more more followed by Laughlin. One man turned on Officer Brannon, firing a pistol in his face causing powder burns. He then shot both Officers Sweeney and Brannon as they turned toward him. The vagrants then ran down Second Street. Officer Sweeney was shot in the neck, damaging his spine. He was taken to the New Century Saloon where doctors worked on him for several hours until he died at 5:00 am. Officer Brannon suffered nearly identical injuries and lingered on until 7:00 pm. Both officers were on the force for only a few months.

Officer Sweeney, 27, was first generation American as both his parents were from Ireland. As of the 1900 Census he was working at a retail grocery. Interred: Mount Calvary Cemetery, Joplin, Missouri.

Officer Brannon, 27, was born in Tennessee. At the time of the 1900 Census he was working at the lead and zinc mines. Interred: Fairview Cemetery, Joplin, Missouri.