Special Detective Lee Stringer was shot and killed as he investigated recent coal thefts from railroad cars in Indianapolis.

   As he and his brother-in-law walked along the branch of the Indianapolis Belt Railroad tracks at Yandes Street, two men jumped from a railroad car. A wheelbarrow filled with coal was found nearby and moments later, Special Detective Stringer was shot from behind and died instantly.

   The two suspects, 20- and 22-year-old males, surrendered two days later and were both charged with first-degree murder. The shooter confessed and was subsequently sentenced to life in prison.

   Special Detective Stringer, from Indianapolis, had served for less than 12 hours and had previously served with the Indianapolis Police Department for one year. He was survived by his wife, a daughter who was born three months after his death and his mother.

The responsibilities of the Lake Erie and Western Railroad Police Department (1879–1922) are now under the jurisdiction of the Norfolk Southern Railway Police Department.

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This officer, discovered in 2019, has not been submitted for consideration as an eligible line of duty death to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund by the Norfolk Southern Railway Police Department.