Officer Charles Barmeier was shot and killed while intervening in a domestic dispute between a Madison, Illinois town assistant police chief and his wife. Chief Street found his estranged wife, Catherine Street, 34, drinking in a saloon with another man. Chief Street was enraged, struck the man with leather billy and ran him off at gunpoint. Street then grabbed his wife by the wrist then forced her to accompany him toward her home. Catherine broke free from Street and ran into an alley at 915 Salisbury Street screaming for help. Officer Barmeier was on a streetcar on his way to report for duty when he heard the woman screaming. He left the streetcar and went to investigate contacting Chief Street and his wife, Catherine Street. During the investigation Officer Barmeier was struck by a .32 caliber round through the heart. Catherine Street, 34, was also shot and killed. The autopsy of both Officer Barmeier and of Catherine Street showed them to be killed by a .32 caliber handgun. The weapons taken from Street and Officer Barmeier were both .38 caliber. The suspect was acquitted at trial because there were no witnesses to the shooting.

Officer Barmeier was survived by his wife, Martha. Interred: Zion Cemetery, Bel-Nor, MO.