Oneal Moore

Who was Oneal Moore?

Oneal Moore was the first black deputy sheriff for the Washington Parish Sheriff's Office in Varnado, Louisiana. He was a 34 year old Army veteran, and he had a wife and four daughters.

He was murdered by alleged members of the Ku Klux Klan in a drive-by shooting on Wednesday, June 2, 1965. He was driving home from work, when a pickup truck pulled up to the side of Moore's patrol car and an occupant in the truck opened fire with a gun on Moore and his partner, Creed Rogers. Rogers survived the shooting with injuries, and managed to broadcast a description of the pickup truck on his police radio.

Two suspects in the shooting were arrested in Mississippi not long afterward, one including Ernest Ray McElveen, but no charges were filed in the case due to a lack of evidence. The investigation was reopened by the FBI in 1990, 2001, and 2007; the prime suspect in the case died in 2003.