Frisco Special Agent James Tines of the St Louis & San Francisco Railroad was shot and killed by two robbery suspects while on patrol.

Special Agent Tines was on patrol in his vehicle when he was hailed by two men near the west Frisco railroad repair shops off of Mill Street in Springfield, Missouri as he made his nightly rounds of the property. The men attempted to rob Agent Tines who became involved in a gun battle with the suspects, firing his revolver, as he exited his vehicle. A female passenger in the vehicle with Agent Tines fled the scene and summoned police. Agent Tines, having sustained four gunshot wounds, was able to return to his vehicle and backed it off of the property. He was discovered by a responding ambulance crew on a street nearby, feebly honking the horn of his vehicle, still in possession of his then empty revolver. Agent Tines was taken to St John's Hospital where he was pronounced dead approximately an hour later, at 12:30 am on December 9, 1933.

Special Agent Tines had been an agent with the railroad for approximately four years, originally assigned at St. Louis as an engineer ten years prior to is death before being transferred to Springfield, Missouri where he served in the capacity of a special agent. He previously served as a marshal for Chaffee, Missouri. He was survived by four children. Interment: Bloomfield, Missouri