Slain Kentucky marshal honored over a century later in Texas

A federal officer gunned down while transporting prisoners through eastern Kentucky was honored at a small ceremony Friday in Texas, more than a century after his death.

Senior officials with the U.S. Marshals Service and judges gathered at a courthouse in Plano, a suburb northeast of Dallas, to present a flag to Russell Wireman's great-great-great grandson, Gary Hulsey.

Wireman, a marshal, was shot in the chest in 1889 during the so-called Moonshine War, but his death until recently has been a lost part of history. The presentation of the folded flag was part of an effort by America's oldest federal law-enforcement agency to recognize officers whose deaths during a particularly deadly period of its history had been obscured by the passing decades.

U.S. Marshals John Garrison, left, and Richard Taylor, right, present a folded flag to Gary Hulsey, his wife Jessica and daughter Summer, all residents of Wylie, Texas, during a ceremony at the United States Courthouse in Plano, Texas, Friday, July 26, 2019. Judges and senior officials with the U.S. Marshals Service gathered at the North Texas courthouse to present the flag and other items to the great, great, great grandson of Marshal Russell Wireman, who was shot in the chest in 1889 during the so-called "Moonshine War." (AP PhotoTony Gutierrez)

"We have a saying in the law enforcement community that we never forget," said Richard Taylor, U.S. marshal for the Northern District of Texas. "One hundred and 30 years later, we never forget."

Wireman, 32, lived in Kentucky with his wife and four children, U.S. Marshals Service historian David Turk said. He was one of many marshals killed during a federal government crackdown of illegal liquor distilleries in the Appalachian Mountains around the turn of the 20th century, Turk said.

The marshal had been transporting prisoners through Knott County, Kentucky, when he was ambushed by a posse that was looking to free the moonshiners, Turk said. A gunfight broke out and Wireman was shot in the chest while trying to cross a shallow place in a river.

U.S. Marshal John Garrison addresses attendees at a ceremony honoring Marshal Russell Wireman, who was killed in the line of duty over a century ago, at the United States Courthouse in Plano, Texas, Friday, July 26, 2019. Judges and senior officials with the U.S. Marshals Service gathered at a North Texas courthouse to present a folded flag to the great, great, great grandson of Marshal Russell Wireman, who was shot in the chest in 1889 during the so-called "Moonshine War." (AP PhotoTony Gutierrez)

Hulsey, 40, of Wylie, Texas, said he's related to Wireman through one of the late marshal's four daughters. He said he knows little about his great-great-great grandfather but was honored when told Wireman's name would be added to the memorial wall at the Washington, D.C., headquarters of the U.S. Marshals Service.

Turk said he and marshals in Kentucky pieced together what happened to Wireman through newspaper accounts, court documents and other records. They eventually found Hulsey through an ancestry website.

In the many years that have passed since Wireman's death, some things in Knott County have endured, Taylor said.

U.S. Marshal Richard Taylor addresses attendees at a ceremony honoring Marshal Russell Wireman, who was killed in the line of duty over a century ago, at the United States Courthouse in Plano, Texas, Friday, July 26, 2019. Judges and senior officials with the U.S. Marshals Service gathered at a North Texas courthouse to present a folded flag to the great, great, great grandson of Marshal Russell Wireman, who was shot in the chest in 1889 during the so-called "Moonshine War." (AP PhotoTony Gutierrez)

"By the way," he said, "it's still a dry county today."

U.S. Marshals John Garrison, left, and Richard, Taylor, right, carry a folded flag they presented to family members of Marshal Russell Wireman, who was killed over a century ago, during a ceremony at the United States Courthouse in Plano, Texas, Friday, July 26, 2019. Judges and senior officials with the U.S. Marshals Service gathered at the North Texas courthouse to present the flag and other items to the great, great, great grandson of Marshal Russell Wireman, who was shot in the chest in 1889 during the so-called "Moonshine War." (AP PhotoTony Gutierrez)

Gary Hulsey, a 40-year-old resident of Wylie, Texas, poses for a photo with his wife Jessica, left, and daughter, Summer, right, holding a folded flag that was presented to them during a ceremony at the United States Courthouse in Plano, Texas, Friday, July 26, 2019. Judges and senior officials with the U.S. Marshals Service gathered at the North Texas courthouse to present the flag to the great, great, great grandson of Marshal Russell Wireman, who was shot in the chest in 1889 during the so-called "Moonshine War." (AP PhotoTony Gutierrez)

Richard Taylor, left, U.S. Marshal for the Northern District of Texas presents Gary Hulsey, a 40-year-old resident of Wylie, Texas, and his wife, Jessica, with a "Challenge Coin," at the United States Courthouse in Plano, Texas, Friday, July 26, 2019. Marshal Russell Wireman, a federal officer gunned down while transporting prisoners through eastern Kentucky, was honored at a small ceremony Friday morning, more than a century after his death. (AP PhotoTony Gutierrez)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israel said it launched airstrikes against Iranian missile launchers and a nuclear research site Tuesday, and Iran struck back against Israel and across the Gulf region, targeting U.S. embassies and disrupting energy supplies and travel.

Four days into a war that President Donald Trump suggested would last several weeks or longer, nearly 800 people have been killed in Iran, including some Trump said he had considered as possible future leaders of the country.

Explosions rang out Tuesday in Tehran and in Lebanon, where Israel said it retaliated against Hezbollah militants. The American embassy in Saudi Arabia and the U.S. consulate in the United Arab Emirates came under drone attacks. Iran has fired dozens of ballistic missiles at Israel, though most of the incoming fire has been intercepted. Eleven people in Israel have been killed since the conflict began.

In other developments, the Pentagon identified four U.S. Army Reserve soldiers killed in a drone strike Sunday at a command center in Kuwait. The strike also killed two other service members.

The spiraling nature of the war raised questions about when and how it would end.

The administration has offered various objectives, including destroying Iran’s missile capabilities, wiping out its navy, preventing it from obtaining a nuclear weapon and ensuring it cannot continue to support allied armed groups.

While the initial U.S.-Israeli strikes killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Trump urged Iranians to overthrow their government, senior administration officials have since said regime change was not the goal.

Trump on Tuesday seemed to downplay the chances of the war ending Iran's theocratic rule, saying that “someone from within” the Iranian regime might be the best choice to take power once the U.S.-Israel campaign is finished.

Speaking Tuesday from the Oval Office, Trump said Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s toppled shah, is not someone that his administration has considered in depth to take over.

As far as possible leaders inside Iran, “the people we had in mind are dead,” Trump said.

“I guess the worst case would be do this, and then somebody takes over who’s as bad as the previous person, right? That could happen," Trump said. "We don’t want that to happen.”

Iran’s leaders are scrambling to replace Khamenei, who ruled the country for 37 years. It’s only the second time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that a new supreme leader is being chosen. Potential candidates range from hard-liners committed to confrontation with the West to reformists who seek diplomatic engagement.

Information coming out of Iran has been limited because of poor communications, round-the-clock airstrikes and tight restrictions on journalists. But explosions rang out across Iran’s capital.

“Since midnight, I and my wife are hearing sound of explosions,” said Ali Amoli, an engineer living in north Tehran.

Adm. Brad Cooper, the top U.S. military commander in the Middle East, said American forces have struck nearly 2,000 targets in Iran since the war began. In a video posted Tuesday on X, Cooper said the U.S. has “severely degraded Iran’s air defenses” and taken out hundreds of ballistic missiles, launchers and drones.

“We’ve just begun,” Cooper said.

Satellite images published Tuesday by Colorado-based company Vantor showed the domed roof of Iran’s presidential complex in Tehran had been destroyed, supporting Israel’s claim of an overnight strike. Iran did not acknowledge the damage or report any casualties.

Israeli military spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said the Israeli military struck a building in the Iranian city of Qom where clerics were expected to meet to discuss selecting a new supreme leader. He said the army was still assessing whether anyone was hit.

The Israeli military said it also conducted airstrikes on Iranian sites that produce and store ballistic missiles, and that it destroyed what it called Iran’s secret, underground nuclear headquarters. Without providing evidence, it said the site was used for research “to develop a key component for nuclear weapons.”

There was no immediate public comment from the U.S. or Iran about the site Israel named.

Iran has said it has not enriched uranium since June, though it has maintained its right to do so and says its nuclear program is peaceful.

An attack from two drones on the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh caused a “limited fire,” according to the Saudi Arabian Defense Ministry, and the embassy urged Americans to avoid the compound.

An Iranian drone struck a parking lot outside the U.S. consulate in Dubai, sparking a small fire, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in Washington. He said all personnel were accounted for.

The United Arab Emirates said Iran has launched more than 1,000 missile and drone attacks against it, and the vast majority were intercepted.

U.S. embassies in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Lebanon said they were closed to the public.

The U.S. State Department ordered the evacuation of non-emergency personnel and family in Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Qatar, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. And U.S. citizens were urged to leave more than a dozen Middle Eastern countries, though many were stranded because of airspace closures.

The State Department said Tuesday it’s preparing military and charter flights for Americans wanting to leave the Middle East. Other countries were arranging flights for their citizens.

The U.S.-Israeli strikes have killed at least 787 people in Iran, according to the Red Crescent Society. In Lebanon, where Israel launched retaliatory strikes on the Iranian-supported militant group Hezbollah, 50 people were killed, including seven children, Lebanon's health ministry said.

In addition, three people were killed in the United Arab Emirates, and one each in Kuwait and Bahrain.

The U.S. military has confirmed six deaths of American service members.

Four of the Americans killed were identified as Capt. Cody A. Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida; Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole M. Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota; and Sgt. Declan J. Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, lowa, who received a posthumous promotion in rank. They were assigned to the Iowa-based 103rd Sustainment Command.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Tuesday criticized Iran's attacks against Gulf neighbors that had worked to prevent war as an “incredibly flawed strategy” that threatens to expand the war if those states retaliate.

This story has been updated to correct that communications in Iran are poor, but that the internet isn't shut down. It also clarifies that more than one drone hit the U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia. Some instances referred to just one drone.

Becatoros reported from Athens, Greece, and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press writers Seung Min Kim, Michelle Price and Konstantin Toropin in Washington, David Rising in Bangkok, Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, Hallie Golden in Seattle, Giovanna Dell'Orto in Miami, and Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, contributed to this report.

A firefighter extinguishes fire at a building that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A woman crosses almost deserted square with a billboard at rear showing a portrait of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the U.S.–Israeli military campaign, in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Smoke rises from a destroyed building that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

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Smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Jewish men covered in prayer shawls pray in an underground parking garage as a precaution against possible Iranian missile attacks, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

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A worker instals a billboard on an overpass containing a portrait of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed during the ongoing joint U.S.-Israeli military campaign, in Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

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