Gunfight på Lindell Boulevard

På onsdag, Januar 10, 1900, St. Louis politibetjent Paul Girard sto på hjørnet av S. Taylor og Lindell Boulevard, da han så en mann hoppe fra andre etasje i 4511 Lindell Boulevard. Oppmerksom på nylige innbrudd i det velstående nabolaget Central West End, Girard nærmet seg mannen.

Da den haltende mannen så Girard, han løp mot S. Euclid Avenue as best he could. Girard pulled out his service revolver and fired five shots at the fleeing burglar. After firing the third shot, Girard heard the fleeing burglar yell “I’ve been hit.” The burglar fired two shots back at Girard, but both missed.

Girard would have caught up to the injured man, but an accomplice had a buggy near S. Euclid. The accomplice pulled the injured burglar into the buggy, and he whipped the horses south down S. Euclid Avenue turning east on Forest Park Boulevard.

Girard gave chase. The horses quickly outpaced Girard. He went ahead to the nearest call box and broadcast a description. However, the men made their escape.

Mrs. Brinckwirth was home at 4511 Lindell, when she heard shots and looked out to see what was going on. A neighbor told her to check her valuables as the police officer was shooting at a man, who jumped from her second-floor porch.

When Mrs. Brinckwirth checked the upstairs room, she found $400.00 in jewelry and $30.00 in cash missing. Mrs. Brinckwirth heard a noise in the upstairs room but took it to be wind from outside. When she called for her house cleaner to put on a tea kettle for the soon-to-return Mr. Brinckwirth, the burglar must have thought the residents had discovered him and made a hasty exit.

The burglar was an obvious professional, who had burglarized over ten residences on Forest Park Boulevard, S. Taylor Avenue and Lindell Boulevard over the past two months. By the time of the Brinckwirth burglary, he had taken almost $7,000.00 in valuables. He always entered through a second-floor window. In recent burglaries, residents were home but never knew the man was in the house.

Despite the suspected wound, St. Louis Police were not able to find him. He left town for treatment and recovery.

Officer Girard was a 23-year-old Patrolman, who would make Sergeant before retiring from the St. Louis Police Department. The victims would only live 11 more years.

I januar 1911, Mr. Louis Brinckwirth died at his home, 4511 Lindell Boulevard, from viral meningitis at 55 år. His wife Josephine Brinckwirth followed two months later at 37 år. She suffered from brain fever and nervous exhaustion.

No one knows what happened to the burglar, but the professional burglaries stopped after the gun fight. The area remained safe for a time.

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Sources: St. Louis Republic, Januar 11, 1900, edition, p. 4

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