David W. Burns

Kansas Department of Corrections — Topeka, KS

Veteran → Felonious

End of Watch December 15, 1923

Age 44

Tour of Duty 13 yrs

The Vigil Panel 46 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Military Department 11

Incident

Parole Officer David Burns succumbed to gunshot wounds sustained the previous day while transporting a prisoner from Texarkana, Texas, to the Kansas State Penitentiary. The prisoner had been able to conceal a .32 caliber handgun and shot Officer Burns four times as they passed through Alicia, Arkansas. Officer Burns was transported to a hospital in St. Louis, Missouri, where he died the following day. The prisoner was captured and sent to Newport, Arkansas, where he was convicted of Officer Burn's murder and sentenced to life in February of 1925. On May 25, 1926, he was shot and killed by Arkansas Penitentiary guards when he ran from a cotton field where he was working with other inmates. Parole Officer Burns was a U.S. Army veteran of the Spanish-American War and had served with the Kansas Department of Corrections for 13 years. He was survived by his wife and six children. He is buried in Leavenworth National Cemetery, Leavenworth, Kansas.

Survivors

He was survived by his wife and six children.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-KS-107081CF
Stewardship: Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw: August 2, 2026
Last updated: August 2, 2026

Honored here by 1 tribute.

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Tributes

I served 1985 to 1993. You served too, before the badge - different uniform, same idea. You go where you are sent and you do not get to pick the call.
Parole Officer Burns gave the Kansas Department of Corrections 13 years.
Thank you for your service to the people of Kansas, and for your service before it. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, brother.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Department Kansas Department of Corrections

Type Corrections

Location Topeka, KS

Platform Identity kanscorr.shawnee.ks.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch December 15, 1923

Tour of Duty 13 yrs

Age 44

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Felonious

Weapon Handgun

Military Service

David W. Burns served in the U.S. Army before joining law enforcement.

View full service record on salute.nw →

Parole Officer David W. Burns is one of 1 officers killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 0% of all 97,759 officers honored here.

In KS, 237 of 335 officers were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 70.7% of this state's fallen. That is 70.7 percentage points above the national rate of 0%.

At Kansas Department of Corrections, 8 of 12 officers on record were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 66.7% of this agency's fallen.

Kansas Department of Corrections

of 12 officers

66.7% Felonious

KS — Statewide

237

of 335 officers

70.7% Felonious

Nationwide

of 97,759 officers

0% Felonious