Roll of Honor
Roy Walter Shafer
Incident
Federal Prohibition Agent Roy Shafer was killed instantly in an automobile crash on U.S. 52, eight miles south of Lebanon, Indiana. On Sunday evening, several agents in three vehicles left the bureau's Columbus, Ohio, office to transport prohibition records to its Chicago, Illinois, office. The agents drove through the night without stopping and, at about 6:00 am, the government vehicle Special Agent Shafer was driving left the roadway and crashed into a ditch before hitting a telephone pole. Special Agent Shafer suffered a broken neck and another agent riding with him was seriously injured but recovered. Special Agent Shafer had served with the Bureau of Prohibition for three years and had previously served as sheriff of Noble County, Ohio. He had been appointed to the office after the murder of Sheriff Charles W. Moore on November 20th, 1923. He was subsequently elected to two additional terms.
Survivors
Special Agent Shafer was survived by his wife, son, daughter, three brothers, two sisters, and father.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-FED-24500648- 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 never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Federal Prohibition Agent Shafer gave the United States Department of the Treasury 7 years.
Thank you for your service. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Federal Prohibition Agent Shafer.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Federal Prohibition Agent Roy Walter Shafer 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 DC, 453 of 1,418 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 31.9% of this state's fallen. That is 31.9 percentage points above the national rate of 0%.
At United States Department of the Treasury - Internal Revenue Service - Bureau of Prohibition, 16 of 37 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 43.2% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Roy Walter Shafer's cause is highlighted.
How Roy Walter Shafer Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Roy Walter Shafer is highlighted in Jun.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
36 officers from United States Department of the Treasury - Internal Revenue Service - Bureau of Prohibition are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
