The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1896-05-07
A FATAL Shooting FRACAS
DEMPSEY BROWN Is NOW DEAD
AND JIM NIXON is BADLY
WOUNDED.
PISTOLS ANDdJNS BROUGHT IN PLAY
Yesterday Morning at McGills Ford to
Send One Man Into Eternity and
Almost End the Career of
AnOther-The Details.
MONDAY HAPPENINGS.


Yesterday morning there was tragedy
enacted at McGill's ford. to the northwest
of the city and opposite McDonald's brick
yard, that this morning will occasion con-
siderable comment among the readers of
The Statesman. The tragedy in ques-
ton resulted in the death of one man and
the other lies wounded in the county Jail.
Yesterday morning Mr.. Dempsey
Brown, i'm company with his wife, five
children and Mrs. Jim Nixon, left the city
for a fishing frolic up the river. They
were in two-horse wagon and crossed
the river at the McGill ford. While the
wagon was in the middle of the stream
the occupants were suddenly aware of
the fact that there was some one near
at hand. This some one proved to be
Jim Nixon. who rode alongside the
wagon and fired a pistol ball at Brown,
who was seated on the front seat of the
wagon, driving. Almost simultaneously
turned loose both barrels of his shotgun
full at Nixon. No sooner had Brown
fired the gun than he threw the breech
and extracted the. shells preparatory to
loading the gun again. This he never
did, however. The next instant he fell
forward stone dead having been shot
through the heart, and the women who
were in the wagon had to hold the body
on the dashboard to keep it from falling
into the river while the horses We're
driven to the shore. Almost at the same
time that Brown fell on the dashboard
dead, Nixon was seen to totter on his
horse and go plunging into the river. He
floated down the river for some dozen or
more yards before he could get landing
on a shallow island and remained there
until Mr.. Geo. Burleson, who happened
to be camping on the opposite bank of
the river, came to his rescue and helped
him to land.
Nixon says that he only shot one shot
at Brown, in which case Brown did all
his shooting after he was shot through
the heart. There were two empty cham
bers in NiXon's revolver, however, and
as the entire deplorable affair was over
with in less time than it takes to tell it,
1t was very hard to find any. one yester-
day morning who, having witnessed the
affair, could be positive about the shoot
ing of one or two shots by Nixon. The
ladies in the wagon, however, told the
officers that, in their opinion, Nixon shot
twice. 1t is probable that such is the
case and that the second shot is the one
that went through the heart of Brown.
As above stated, Brown was dead
when he reached the bank in the wagon
ano Nixon was in pretty bad fix when
he was pulled out of the water. The two
fingers of his left hand had been torn off
by the shotgun, and his body and face
were full of shot. There were shot in
his forehead in several places, and one of
the shot entered his eye which is about
the only wound that the doctors think
may prove fatal. Nixon was taken to
the county Jail, where he awaits an eX-
aiming trial. 1t is believed that unless
some unforeseen accident happens Nixon
will get well.
The cause of the trouble, as near as
could be obtained from interested par
ties, was that NiXon's wife left him, and
the fact that she was associating with
Mrs. Brown caused Nixon, it is said, to
hold that family responsible, in meas
ure, for his wife's leaving. This fact, in
addition to some family troubles, brought
about the shooting yesterday morning
which ended so disastrously for all par
ties concerned.
A Statesman reporter called at the Jail
last afternoon to see Mr.. Nixon, with
view of getting n statement from him as
to the shooting. Mr.. Nixon was found
laying in the run-around of the Jail on
cot in charge of Mr.. Geo. Burleson.
When asked if he had anything to say
on the matter his reply was that he did
not. His head and arm were all BAN
daged up until it was impossible to see
his face at all and he seemed to be in
rather drOwsy stare and not at all in
clined to talk. Mr.. Burleson, when
asked what he knew about the shooting.
said that he arrived on the scene a few
minutes after the shooting and helped
take care of the wounded. He also
made the statement that Mr.. Brown had
to kill Nixon on sight not
only to himself, but to number of other
people, and had informed Nixon of his
intentions also. That when he first saw
Nixon he was riding up behind the wagon
in which Brown and the women and chill
dren were riding. Mr.. Burleson also
stated that the trouble arose over the fact
that Brown had persuaded Nixon's wife
to leave him and had threatened to kill
him if he ever took her away again.
Mrs. Nixon is a sister of Mr.. Burleson.
When the officers began their search
for the gun and pistol used, they had some
trouble in locating them, but finally found
them in the river bed, near the place
where the shooting occurred. The gun
dropped into the water when Brown fell
On the dashboard, and the pistol dropped
put of Nixon's hand when he fell off his
horse.