March 22, 1921
Federal Prohibition Agent Charles A. Wood, U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Border Department, was killed on March 22, 1921, along with his partner, Agent Stafford E. Beckett, while attempting to execute a search warrant on whiskey smugglers at the Shearman Ranch in El Paso, Texas, near the U.S. – Mexico border. Following a lead that 23 cases of liquor were to be sent across the Mexican border, a federal raid was organized, and unfortunately, both agents lost their lives. At the time, newspapers reported that in the two weeks prior to this incident there had been seven armed fights between federal agents and border smugglers. Agent Wood was 35 years of age at the time of his death.