Austin Police To Honor Fallen Officer Killed In 1928

AUSTIN, TX -- Law enforcement officials this Friday will install a memorial marker in South Austin for one of their fallen brethren -- the late Austin Police Chief James Littlepage, who was killed in 1928.

It will be the first marker to be installed as part of the Austin Police Memorial Project, honoring local officers killed in the line of duty. The project honors fallen officers with gray granite memorials standing at 5’ 4” tall, with a thickness of six inches each.

All memorial markers are donated by Rockdale Memorials.

Littlepage was killed during a shooting rampage in South Austin on Oct. 9, 1928, when he and several officers responded to reports of a shotgun-wielding gunman who had killed two women near the 300 block of Elizabeth Street.

Officers chased the suspect along a creek while Littlepage drove his car around to head him off at the pass. Confronting the fleeing suspect in the 2500 block of Wilson Street, Littlepage tried to convince the man to surrender.

Instead, the gunman shot the police chief twice in the abdomen before running into a house at 1800 Newton St., where he killed a carpenter working outside the home.

Installation of a marker for the late police chief is scheduled to take place at 1 p.m. on March 4 at Trinity Abundant Life Church, 412 Cumberland Rd.