Virgil Walter Earp (1843 – 1905) was the Deputy U.S. Marshal for Cochise County and Tombstone City Marshal when he led his brothers Morgan and Wyatt along with Doc Holliday in a confrontation with outlaw Cowboys at the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral on October 26, 1881. They killed three Cowboys, but two months later, friends of the slain outlaws retaliated, ambushing Virgil. They hit him in the back with three shotgun rounds, shattering his left arm and leaving him permanently maimed. His brother Morgan Earp was assassinated in March 1882 and Virgil left Tombstone for Colton, California, to live with his parents and recuperate.