1937

November 8, 1937
Automobile Accident  at Woodland Heights

DOB – March 20, 1895, 47
Badge –
Final Resting Place – Forest Park Lawndale, Houston

Cruising Patrolman M.E. Palmer was shot to death shortly before noon on Thursday by a crazed man by the name of Light Zink, who, then, committed suicide by turning a double-barreled shotgun on himself. Cruising Officer Roberts (Palmer's partner) described the shooting and events leading up to it. "Palmer and I went to the garage apartment in response to a complaint from Zink's wife," Officer Roberts said. "She had told the people, who live at 1510 Heights Boulevard that her husband had locked her out and for them to call the police. We knocked on the door of the apartment, but Zink refused to let us in. We stood there for a while, knocking. I smelled gas escaping. 'He's turned on the gas,' I said to my partner. "you watch the back and I'll go turn the gas off.' As I went to the gas meter beside the house in front of the apartments, my partner walked around to the back of the apartment. A few moments later I heard a shot. I ran to the rear of the house and found my partner lying at the foot of a ladder. As I was running back, I then heard a second shot. I ran up the stairs to the apartment and burst the door in. I found Zink lying dead."

Officer Palmer was born on March 20, 1895, in Springfield, Ohio. Palmer joined the police force on June 16, 1930, as a patrolman. He worked out of West End Substation.

Officer M.E. Palmer is survived by his wife; sons, Harold and Marion E. Jr.; mother , W.D. Naus; sisters, R.A. Weller and Bernice Jones; and half-brother, R.C. Howard.

Source – Houston Police Department Museum Files