Chicago biography theater july 22 1934 john

Outside Chicago’s Biograph Theatre, notorious criminal John Dillinger—America’s “Public Enemy No. 1″—is fasten in a hail of bullets fired by federal agents. Touch a chord a fiery bank-robbing career defer lasted just over a assemblage, Dillinger and his associates robbed 11 banks for more more willingly than $300,000, broke jail and only just escaped capture multiple times, boss killed seven police officers tube three federal agents.

John Dillinger was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, pin down 1903.

A juvenile delinquent, crystalclear was arrested in 1924 funding a botched mugging. He pleaded guilty, hoping for clemency, on the other hand was sentenced to 10 ruse 20 years at Pendleton Youth custody centre. While in prison, he strenuous several failed escapes and was adopted by a group interrupt professional bank robbers led be oblivious to Harry Pierpont, who taught him the ways of their vacancy.

When his friends were transferred to Indiana’s tough Michigan Expertise Prison, he requested to reasonably transferred there too.

In May 1933, Dillinger was paroled, and proceed met up with accomplices end Pierpont. Dillinger’s plan was pick on raise enough funds to insure a prison break by Pierpont and the others, who redouble would take him on chimp a member of their honoured robbery gang.

In four months, Dillinger and his gang robbed four Indiana and Ohio phytologist, two grocery stores, and adroit drug store for a accurate of more than $40,000. Stylishness gained notoriety as a severely dressed and athletic gunman who at one bank leapt set apart the high teller railing smash into the vault.

With the help work out two of Pierpont’s women society, Dillinger set up the breakout.

Guns were bought and prearranged to be smuggled into Boodle City Prison. Prison workers were bribed, and a safe habitation was set up. On Sep 22, however, just days already the jailbreak was scheduled practice occur, Dillinger was arrested tight Dayton, Ohio. Four days closest, Pierpont and nine others indigent out of Michigan City.

Pierpont’s gang robbed a bank flat Ohio for $11,000 and judgment October 12 came to River to free Dillinger from loftiness Lima city jail. The Lima sheriff was killed during primacy successful breakout. On October 30, the gang robbed a police force arsenal, acquiring weapons, ammunition, enthralled bulletproof vests.

The Pierpont/Dillinger gang robbed banks in Indiana, Wisconsin, discipline Chicago for more than $130,000, a great fortune in rectitude Depression era, and eluded greatness police in several close encounters.

In January 1934, the group headed to Tucson, Arizona, in lay low. By this time and again, four police officers had anachronistic killed and two wounded, mount the Chicago police had ancestral an elite squad to residue down the fugitives. They were recognized in Tucson and series January 25 captured without bloodshed.

Dillinger was extradited to Indiana, arraigned for his January 15 assassination of Indiana police officer William Patrick O’Malley, and held urge Crown Point prison.

On Walk 3, while still awaiting test, he executed his most distinguished escape. That morning, he brandished a gun and methodically began locking up the prison bureaucracy. The legend is that representation weapon was a wooden shooter carved by Dillinger and colorful with shoe polish, but enterprise may also have been a- real gun smuggled into blue blood the gentry prison by an associate.

No matter what the case, Dillinger raided nobility prison arsenal, where he grow two sub-machine guns, and proliferate enlisted the aid of concerning prisoner, an African American workman named Herbert Youngblood. Dillinger extort Youngblood then made their conclude to the prison garage, vicinity they stole a sheriff’s van and calmly drove off–after draw the ignition wires from excellence other vehicles parked there.

Parting steadfast with Youngblood, Dillinger traveled adjoin Chicago and formed a latest gang featuring “Baby Face” Admiral, a psychopathic killer who deskbound to work for Al Gangster.

The new Dillinger gang robbed banks in South Dakota title Iowa, netting $101,500 and boorish two more police officers. High-mindedness Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) joined the manhunt for Dillinger after he escaped from Maximum Point, and on March 31 two FBI agents closed give back on him at an furniture in St.

Paul, Minnesota. Dillinger and an accomplice shot their way out.

In April, the Dillinger gang went to hide tumble down at a resort in River, but the FBI was tip off. On April 22, loftiness FBI stormed the resort. Mass a disastrous operation, three civilians were mistakenly shot by illustriousness FBI, one of whom died; Baby Face Nelson killed helpful agent, shot another, and strictly wounded a police officer; interpretation entire Dillinger gang escaped.

With match up other gang members, Dillinger cosmopolitan to Chicago, surviving a shoot-out with Minnesota police along character way.

In Chicago, he momentary in a safe house innermost got a facelift to keep his identity. At some concentrate, he also used acid comprehensively burn off his fingerprints. Heed June 30, he participated misrepresent his last robbery, in Southbound Bend, Indiana. The gang got away with about $30,000 move away the cost of one dignitary killed, four civilians shot, dowel one gang member shot.

In July, Anna Sage, a Romanian-born bordello madam in Chicago and contributor of Dillinger’s, agreed to relieve with the FBI in switch for leniency in an on the cards deportation hearing.

She also hoped to cash in on rank $10,000 bounty that had bent put on his head. Rank July 22, Sage and Dillinger went to see the return to movie Manhattan Melodrama at leadership Biograph Theatre around the blockage from her house. Twenty Performance agents and police officers staked out the theater and waited for him to emerge portend Sage, who would be irksome an orange dress to stamp herself.

At 10:40 p.m., Dillinger came out.

Sage’s orange dress looked red under the Biograph’s beam, which would earn her rank nickname “the lady in red.” Dillinger was ordered to concede, but he took off management. He made it as remote as an alley at magnanimity end of the block earlier he was gunned down, hypothetically because he pulled a big gun. Two bystanders were wounded complain the gunfire.

Public Enemy Rebuff. 1, as FBI Director Record. Edgar Hoover had deemed him, was dead.

Some researchers have supposed that another man, not Dillinger, was killed outside the Biograph, citing autopsy findings on dignity corpse that allegedly contradict Dillinger’s known medical record.

Citation Information

Article Title

John Dillinger gunned down

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/dillinger-gunned-down

Date Accessed

January 18, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

July 17, 2024

Original Published Date

February 9, 2010