St. Louis Officer Killed by Wanted Man

The picture of Cornelius O’Keefe in the book, In The Line of Duty: St. Louis politifolk som ofret by Barbara Miksicek, David McElreath og major Stephen Pollihan, struck me the first time I saw it. Med håret skilt på midten og en stor bart, I could see him walking the streets of Downtown St. Louis speaking to children in his Irish brogue.

Cornelius O’Keefe both looked and acted the part of the brave, strong policeman. He performed many legendary feats of daring during his career.

Several of his exploits were chronicled in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch på tirsdag, August 8, 1911. Før hans altfor tidlige død, O’Keefe had overpowered an armed maniac Downtown by dancing like a trained bear to amuse him. When he got close enough to the lunatic, he overpowered the man and took two guns from him.

In another case, a burglar tried to break into his boarding house at 1121 Mississippi Avenue. O’Keefe chased him down being shot in the hand in the process. Han hadde nylig funnet en kvinne, som hoppet fra et hotell og til slutt døde av skadene.

Natt til mandag, August 7, 1911, O’Keefe was working the evening shift. Typically, he was looking for Remus Hawshaw, a man wanted for assault. O'Keefe stoppet i på Weisman Taylor Shop på Olive Street ved siden Choris Candy Store, 1308 Olive Street.

Weisman ansatt flere afro-amerikanere inkludert Hawshaw. Weisman stated he had not seen Hawshaw all day. Hawshaw would stop in at Weisman’s later that day. Mr. Weisman told Hawshaw to turn himself in.

Hawshaw gjorde slå seg selv i neste morgen på 9:oo a.m. men denne gangen O'Keefe var død. Hawshaw snart ville være den hovedmistenkte.

O'Keefe ankom hans lettelse innlegg på fjortende og Olive Street 10:50 pm, som var fem minutter for tidlig, så han bestemte seg for å sjekke inn på Weisman sin en gang til.

På rundt 10:55 p.m, den Choris familien, som eide godtebutikk hørte glass bryte i smug og flere skudd. De gjemte seg i leiligheten ovenpå for 15 til 20 minutter før de følte seg trygge nok til å komme ned. Innen den tid, Sergeant Meehan hadde funnet O'Keefe liggende i smug. O'Keefe kunne bare si at “en svart fikk meg.”

O'Keefe gikk nedover smuget bak godtebutikk, når en svart mann overrasket ham. They fought with O’Keefe trying to strike the assailant with his club. O’Keefe broke the glass, which the Chorises heard, by swinging his club at Hawshaw. Hawshaw was able to draw O’Keefe’s service revolver and shoot him. The shooting was at such close range O’Keefe had powder burns on his jacket. Hawshaw jakke senere skulle gjenopprettes med et kulehull i ermet.

O'Keefe ble fraktet til byens sykehus, hvor han døde i 5:35 a.m. på morgenen i august 8, 1911. Police officers brought in a couple of African-Americans who were found in the area but O’Keefe shook his head each time indicating it was not the man. He had apparently lost his power of speech before his death. O'Keefe dødsattest sier at et skuddsår i brystet var hans dødsårsak.

Jeg har alltid lurt på hvorfor O'Keefe ikke si, “Hawshaw fikk meg.” It is possible he did not know him well or did not know who attacked him in the alley. Uavhengig, Hawshaw ble den hovedmistenkte svært raskt. Hans alibi for tidspunktet for skytingen ble diskontert med to kollegaer, som uttalte at han ikke var på Red Rooster Club i løpet av kvelden.

Et annet vitne, som levde på tvers av stredet fra skredderen butikken, så Hawshaw i smug mindre enn en time før drapet skjedde. St. Police also found physical evidence such as Hawshaw’s coat with a powder burn on the sleeve.

Hawshaw was convicted of the crime but did not die in prison. Ifølge hans dødsattest, han døde oktober 27, 1931 ved fylte 42 fra lunge trombose. He was employed as a laborer and lived at 2340 Washington Boulevard. I do not know how long he served time in prison for O’Keefe’s murder.

O'Keefe var en 42 årige bachelor, som hadde vært på den kraft ettersom 1899. Hans dødsattest ikke en liste over eventuelle pårørende. O'Keefe var en modig offiser, som ga sitt liv prøver å pågripe en farlig kriminell. Dessverre, his fate would be shared by many other officers in the 1910s and 1920s.

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