OKLAHOMA – A memorial dedication designating a northwest Oklahoma bridge to one of the three Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers who lost their lives in the shootout in Caddo 40 years ago.
News presented by First United Bank.
Oklahoma HB 2519 designated the bridge located on US-412 in Garfield County, a half mile west of County Road N2820, as the Trooper Houston F. “Pappy” Summers Memorial Bridge.
Summers, along with Trooper Billy Young and Second Lieutenant James Pat Grimes, was killed on May 26, 1978 in a shootout with two prison escapees near Kenefic. It has been described as the darkest day in the history of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.
New memorials were placed in Caddo this May in honor of the sacrifice of OHP Troopers Summers, Billy Young, and Pat Grimes in recognition of the four decades that had passed since that day.