Marshal Frank Mommer was shot and killed when he interrupted two suspects attempting to break into a safe at a local drugstore. He confronted the two suspects inside the store but was shot in the stomach by one of them.

The two men fled the scene as local citizens came to Marshal Mommer’s aid. He was taken to a hospital in Waterloo where he died the following day.

One of the suspects was apprehended several days later but the other suspect fled the area. The suspect who fled, who turned out to be the store owner’s son, was apprehended in Vancouver, Washington, six years later. He was sentenced to life in prison on January 9, 1932. He was paroled September 3, 1952. The other suspect, also sentenced to life October 17, 1925, was paroled in 1941.