On May 26, 1978, 62-year-old Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Houston F. Pappy Summers was killed in the line of duty during a violent shootout near Caddo, Oklahoma. Summers, a 32-year veteran who was nearing retirement, and his partner Trooper Billy Young encountered two escaped inmates from the Oklahoma State Penitentiary who were driving a recently stolen truck. The two vehicles stopped about 80 yards apart and exchanged gunfire; the patrol car’s windshield was shattered and Summers was struck in the back as he attempted to radio for assistance. Both Summers and Young were killed in that initial volley.

The escaped convicts then went into the town of Caddo, where a later shootout killed Second Lieutenant James Pat Grimes and wounded his partner. The two suspects were shot and killed by responding officers at the scene, ending the crime spree that had included seven other murders. No arrests were made because both suspects died during the confrontations.