At approximately 22:00 on the night of July 19, 1933 the posse descended on the cabins. Sheriff Coffey, "tommy-gun" and steel shield in hand, pounded on the door of the room occupied by Buck and Blanche. "Police! Open up!" he shouted. "Wait until we get dressed!" Blanche replied. It was the pre-arranged emergency signal, and the gang leapt into action. Blanche yelled "They're in the other room!" which drew the sheriff away from the door. She and Buck began to grab their belongings. In the other cabin Clyde and W.D. carried Bonnie into the garage and placed her in the back seat of the car. Clyde peered out the garage window and to his horror, he saw that the front of the cabin was bathed in light and the armored car had pulled up to block the garage door.

Clyde grabbed for his "scattergun." Earlier, Clyde had taken one of his stolen BARs and cut the barrel off just forward of the gas-tube, while shortening the stock just behind the pistol-grip. To this he added a clip fashioned from three regular 20 round magazines welded together. This monstrous weapon he dubbed his "scattergun." Armed with his creation, he and W.D., who wielded a normal BAR, opened up on the armored car. The plates of the vehicle had been designed to stop low-velocity pistol bullets and shotgun pellets but offered almost no protection from the armor-piercing .30-06 slugs. The armored car was penetrated in dozens of places, some of the bullets passing through both sides, and the deputy inside was severely wounded in both legs.

On the other side, Buck shot it out with the law officers. Although he was severely outnumbered, Buck was able to pick out individual officers as the light from the searchlight bounced off the light colored buildings and illuminated them. In the first few moments Sheriff Coffey had been badly hit in the neck and attempted to crawl away, covering himself as best he could with his shield. His son, who had tagged along to watch the fireworks, ran to the aid of his father and was hit as well. But the firepower Buck unleashed from the building was more than matched by the rifles, shotguns, and Thompsons of the surrounding officers. suddenly the inevitable happened. A stray .45 caliber bullet from one of the Thompsons caught Buck in the temple. The bullet travelled around the circumference of his skull and exited on the other side, leaving a massive open wound.

But things went suddenly wrong for the police. Fire from the cabin continued to tear apart the armored car. One round struck a headlight and caused it to point crazily skyward, while another found the horn causing it to blare loudly and continuously. Deputy Highfill, reeling from his wounds, decided to get out of his exposed position. He slammed the vehicle into reverse and backed away from the cabin. The other officers took this, as well as the sounding horn, as a signal that the gang had surrendered. For a few moments their firing stopped. It was the lucky break that Clyde needed! With W.D. covering from the running-board he nosed the car out of the garage and into the open.

Stopping just long enough to pick up Buck and Blanche, who near hysterical screamed "Please don't die, Daddy!" Clyde floored the accelerator. The astonished officers began to fire again at the fleeing car. One near miss sent flying shards of glass into Blanche's eyes, partially blinding her. But it was too late. The officers watched the tail-lights of the gang's car disappear into the darkness. Miraculously, all the wounded officers would recover from their injuries.

Two days of running , with Buck drifting in and out, and Blanche almost constantly crying, finally led the Barrow Gang to a hiding place. It was a 20 acre park near Dexter Iowa, known as Dextfield Park. Once again sharp-eyed locals noticed the camping outlaws, and notified local officials. The local Sheriff, C.A. Knee and a local dentist Dr. Hershell Keller , who was also a National Guard Officer, rounded up a posse and headed for Dextfield Park. The posse's numbers were swelled by local youths who tagged along to watch, but the was made up of only six men, plus others detached to watch possible escape routes. So the trap was set to be sprung on the morning of July 24, 1933.

The gang had been sleeping by their two cars when a noise awoke Bonnie, She saw the approaching men and rousted the others. Covered by the fire of BARs, the gang piled into one of the vehicles and attempted to drive off. after only a few yards, a shotgun blast struck Clyde in the arm, and the vehicle swerved into a large stump and came to a halt. Realizing their exposed position, the gang unloaded and attempted to reach the other vehicle. Posse members turned their attention toward the running outlaws. Bonnie was struck by shotgun pellets in the breast and stomach. W.D. suffered minor wounds to his chest and face. The outlaws has just about reached the other car when the law officers started to shoot it up. It was quickly rendered undriveable as dozens of bullets punctured tires, shattered glass, and ruptured the gas tank.

Their transport destroyed, the gang made a break for the surrounding woods. Buck was hit several more times in the ensuing fusilade, and fell behind a log. Blanche refused to go any farther without him, so Bonnie, Clyde, and W.D. escaped into the woods. The trio crossed a nearby river and escaped. The gang had slipped out of another trap, but they were in bad shape. All three had been wounded, and all of Clyde's guns except for an unloaded .45, had been lost.

Back in Dextfield park, the posse cautiously approached Buck and Blanche. Dr. Keller stepped over the log, kicked a .45 from Buck's hand, and stuck the barrel of his "tommy-gun" in Buck's face. "Don't shoot! Can't you see he's dying?" Blanche yelled. The road had ended for Buck and Blanche Barrow. Buck clung to life for five more days under heavy guard in an Iowa hospital, but the ex-turkey thief expired on July 29, 1933. His funeral was attended by a number of law officers, who hoped Clyde might attempt to come to his brother's funeral. Predictably, Clyde didn't show.

Despite the best efforts of Doctors, Blanche never regained sight in one of her eyes, and despite statements to the contrary, she was far from cooperative with interrogating officers. She instead gave false names and leads to cover for her outlaw friends.