Deputy Constable Andrew Russell was shot and killed attempting to effect an arrest on horse thieves.

On September 13, 1874, Deputy Russell accompanied by Texas Constable, Thomas Ragsdale, Special Officer Charlie Means and a citizen, went to a farmhouse to arrest two of the Lakey brothers wanted for horse stealing in Texas. They surveilled the house and the barn overnight. Deputy Russell and Constable Ragsdale approached the house at daylight, walking up to the door and challenging the Lakey brothers. The brothers grabbed their guns from the wall and ran out a back door pursued by the officers. As Deputy Russell and Constable Ragsdale pursued the fleeing suspects, Deputy Russell was shot in the back with the bullet penetrating his heart. A coroners jury determined that the elder Lakey fired on Deputy Russell from the house. Jake Lakey was apprehended hiding in a hollow about five miles from the residence. The Springfield Times reported that this was the fifth Greene County man killed in pursuit of horse thieves in two months.

Deputy Russell, served with the Campbell Township Constable's Office for approximately three years. He previously served with the Springfield Police Department from 1868 to 1869 and was Marshal of North Springfield in 1870. He was born in Illinois, was survived by his wife of eleven years, Sarah and his children, Cornelius, Edwin, Mattie and Charley. Interred: Russell and Ringenberg Cemetery, Springfield, Greene County, MO.