June 3, 1983

Armed officers surrounded the Ginter house four miles north of Smithville (Lawrence County), where militant tax-protester and Posse Comitatus member Gordon Kahl was being harbored after he had engaged in a deadly shootout with federal marshals in Medina, North Dakota, on February 13. Lawrence County sheriff Gene Matthews, U.S. deputy marshal Jim A. Hall, and Arkansas state trooper Ed Fitzpatrick entered the house after apprehending Leo Ginter. Matthews was struck with a fatal blast from Kahl’s rifle. The officers, including Matthews, got out, and a rifle barrage and tear gas were fired into the house. The house burned down, and Kahl’s remains were later discovered. What became known as the “Smithville Shootout” made national headlines.