Editing Bonnie and Clyde (section)

== Differing accounts ==
The members of the posse came from three organizations: Hamer and Gault were both former Texas Rangers then working for the Texas Department of Corrections (DOC), Hinton and Alcorn were employees of the Dallas Sheriff's office, and Jordan and Oakley were Sheriff and Deputy of Bienville Parish, Louisiana. The three duos distrusted one another and kept to themselves,<ref>Guinn, pp. 335–336</ref> and each had its own agenda in the operation and offered differing narratives of it. Simmons, the head of the Texas DOC, brought another perspective, having effectively commissioned the posse.

Schmid had tried to arrest Barrow in Sowers, Texas in November 1933. Schmid called "Halt!" and gunfire erupted from the outlaw car, which made a quick U-turn and sped away. Schmid's Thompson submachine gun jammed on the first round, and he could not get off one shot. Pursuit of Barrow was impossible because the posse had parked their cars at a distance to prevent them from  being seen.<ref name="Knight and Davis, p. 118"/>

The posse discussed calling "halt", but the four Texans Hamer, Gault, Hinton, and Alcorn "vetoed the idea",<ref>Phillips, ''Running'', p. 205</ref> telling them that the killers' history had always been to shoot their way out,<ref name="Knight and Davis, p.166">Knight and Davis, p. 166</ref> as had occurred in Platte City, Dexfield Park, and Sowers.<ref>Guinn, p. 269</ref> When the ambush occurred, Oakley stood up and opened fire, and the other officers opened fire immediately after.<ref name="Knight and Davis, p 166" /> Jordan was reported to have called out to Barrow;<ref>Associated Press story with a by-line by Jordan, published in the ''New York Times'' and ''Dallas Morning News'', May 24, 1934</ref> Alcorn said that Hamer called out;<ref>''Dallas Morning News'', May 24, 1934</ref> and Hinton claimed that Alcorn did.<ref name="Hinton" /> In another report, each said that they both did.<ref>''Dallas Dispatch'', May 24, 1934.</ref> These conflicting claims might have been collegial attempts to divert the focus from Oakley, who later admitted firing too early, but that is merely speculation.<ref name="Guinn, p 357">Guinn, p. 357.</ref>

In 1979, Hinton's account of the saga was published posthumously as ''Ambush: The Real Story of Bonnie and Clyde''.<ref>Ted Hinton, as told to Larry Grove, ''Ambush: The Real Story of Bonnie and Clyde'', Shoal Creek Publishers, 1979</ref> His version of the Methvin family's involvement in the planning and execution of the ambush was that the posse had tied Methvin's father Ivy to a tree the previous night to keep him from warning off the couple.<ref name="Hinton" /> Hinton claimed that Hamer made a deal with Ivy: if he kept quiet about being tied up, his son would escape [[prosecution]] for the two Grapevine murders.<ref name="Hinton" /> Hinton alleged that Hamer made every member of the posse swear that they would never divulge this secret. Other accounts place Ivy at the center of the action, not tied up but on the road, waving for Barrow to stop.<ref name="Knight and Davis, p 147" /><ref>Treherne, p. 220</ref>

Hinton's memoir suggests that Parker's cigar in the famous "cigar photo" had been a ruse, and that it was retouched as a cigar by darkroom staff at the ''Joplin Globe'' while they prepared the photo for publication.<ref>Hinton, pp. 39, 47</ref><ref group=notes>But the cigar is shown in other photos from the Joplin rolls shot at the same spot. (Ramsey, pp. 108–109)</ref> Guinn says that some people who knew Hinton suspect that "he became [[delusion]]al late in life".<ref>Guinn, p. 413 n</ref>