Roll of Honor
Incident
Sheriff Matthew Browne was accidentally shot and killed while he and other deputies transported several Mexican prisoners from Brownsville to Corpus Christi.
The deputies stopped the wagon for lunch at approximately 1600 hours and as Sheriff Browne sat down, he moved his pistol and it discharged. The round struck him in the leg, just above the knee, and severed a major artery. Sheriff Browne bled to death in a matter of minutes.
The deputies took his body back to Brownsville where he was buried.
Sheriff Browne had served as sheriff for approximately 18 months.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife, father, sister, and three brothers.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-TX-EC4D4C71- 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
134 years is a long time for a name to go unread. Not today.
Sheriff Browne gave the Cameron County Sheriff's Office 1 year.
Thank you for your service to the Olmito community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Sheriff Matthew L. Browne is one of 1 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 0% of all 97,772 officers honored here.
In TX, 657 of 2,422 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 27.1% of this state's fallen. That is 27.1 percentage points above the national rate of 0%.
At Cameron County Sheriff's Office, 1 of 13 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 7.7% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Matthew L. Browne's cause is highlighted.
How Matthew L. Browne Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Matthew L. Browne is highlighted in Apr.
Others Who Wore This Badge
12 officers from Cameron County Sheriff's Office are honored on badge.nw.
