On January 6, 1982 Sheriff Gaston was investigating a report of a theft of gasoline from parked cars in rural Woodward County. Near the intersection of Highways 270 and 34, he saw a car parked at the side of the road that fit the description of the suspect vehicle in the thefts. As Sheriff Gaston approached the car, the driver, David Behrens, shot him once in the chest with a .38 pistol. The bullet penetrated one lung and lodged against his spine, paralyzing the Sheriff from the waist down. After many months in the hospital the Sheriff recovered enough to complete the last two years of his term confined to a wheelchair. His assailant was convicted and sentenced to 144 years in prison. The Sheriff suffered long term complications from his wound and died on February 12, 1986, from pneumonia following surgery earlier in January for an infection.