Chief Deputy Melvin Kenneth Drum, 57, was fatally shot on March 28, 1987, in Perryton, Texas, while conducting a traffic stop stemming from a domestic disturbance call. Drum was killed when a suspect, still seated in the patrol car, shot him during the encounter. He had served eight years with the Ochiltree County Sheriff’s Department and was survived by his wife.

The suspect was later arrested, convicted for Drum’s murder, and sentenced to death; the execution occurred on October 12, 1999. Colleagues and community members recalled Drum’s dedication to keeping Perryton and Ochiltree County safe from drugs and crime. His son Delvin, then also a deputy for Ochiltree County, was deeply affected by the loss and later died of cancer, which some associate with the grief over his father’s death.