Oran Henry Pape (March 10,
1904 – April 30, 1936) was a member of the Iowa State Patrol in the United States
. To date, he is the only member of the
Patrol to have been
murdered in the line of
duty.
Prior to joining the Patrol, Pape played
American football.
He played high school football at Dubuque Senior
High School
, where he was part of the 1924 Iowa State
championship football team. Pape then played college football at the University of
Iowa
. Following college, he played in the National Football League for the
Green Bay Packers, the Minneapolis Red Jackets, the
Providence Steam Roller, the
Boston Braves, and the Staten Island Stapletons, it was
with the Packers, that he was a member of their 1930 NFL Championship
team, he left the NFL in 1934, and returned to Iowa, where he
attended the State Police Academy in Ft.
Dodge
.
Pape was appointed to the newly formed Iowa Highway Patrol (later
Iowa State Patrol) in August 1935,
one of the first men to become an officer in the Patrol.
On April 28, 1936, Pape was patrolling
U.S. Highway 61
near Muscatine,
Iowa
. He noticed a car that had been reported
stolen. After pulling the car over, Pape approached the car. The
driver, Roscoe Barton, pointed his gun at Pape and ordered him into
his car. Barton drove away with Pape as his hostage. A short while
later, Pape saw an opportunity to overpower Barton, and the two
began struggling. During the struggle, Barton was shot in the head,
and Pape was shot in the
abdomen.
Both men
were taken to Mercy Hospital (now Genesis Medical Center) in Davenport
. Barton died from his injuries soon after
arriving at the hospital. Pape was treated for his gunshot wound,
however his condition eventually took a turn for the worse. Doctors
were unable to transfuse blood into him because of his collapsed
veins.
Pape died at 2:40pm on April 30.
He was buried at Linwood
Cemetery
in Dubuque. Pape's badge number 40 was
retired from service.
The death of Pape is one of the main reasons the Patrol began the
practice of "cross drawing" guns. In this practice, officers wear
their guns opposite their strong arm. In theory, an officer would
be able to hold on to a person with their strong arm and be able to
draw their weapon at the same time.