Roll of Honor
Incident
Deputy Thomas Tyus was shot and killed by another officer who mistook him for a burglar.
Deputy Tyus had gone to a home to serve a warrant on a bootlegging suspect but the suspect was not there. A woman at the home thought Deputy Tyus was a burglar and left through a back door to notify an officer.
When the officer arrived spotted Deputy Tyus and started to approach him. Deputy Tyus also saw the officer and, thinking he was the suspect, also approached. The officer thought Deputy Tyus was going to attack him and opened fire, killing him.
Deputy Tyus was survived by his four children.
Survivors
Deputy Tyus was survived by his four children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-OK-483CD331- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Deputy Sheriff Tyus served with the Creek County Sheriff's Office.
Thank you for your service to the Sapulpa community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Deputy Sheriff Tyus.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Deputy Sheriff Thomas E. Tyus is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In OK, 135 of 582 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 23.2% of this state's fallen. That is 7.8 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.
At Creek County Sheriff's Dept., 2 of 4 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 50% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Thomas E. Tyus's cause is highlighted.
How Thomas E. Tyus Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Thomas E. Tyus is highlighted in Jul.
Others Who Wore This Badge
3 officers from Creek County Sheriff's Dept. are honored on badge.nw.
