1904 Shootout on Pine Street

On Friday, October 21, 1904, five St. Louis Police Officers went to a rooming house at 1324 Pine Street, site of today’s Soldier Memorial, to arrest three men suspected of an Illinois train robbery in July of the same year.  What occurred next would be one of the most storied shootouts in St. Louis Police history.

During the World’s Fair, St. Louis Police added extra officers.  Two of these officers, Special Officer Harry James and Kansas City detective Edward Boyle, received information that three men suspected of robbing a Pullman car on the Illinois Central were staying at a rooming house on Pine Street.  Detectives John J. Shea, Thomas Dwyer and Thomas McCluskey were sent with the two officers to arrest the men,

The detectives recognized one of the robbers, Harry Vaughn, exit the house.  He was taken into custody despite stiff resistance.  Dwyer, McCluskey, Shea and Boyle went for the other robbers, while James maintained custody of Vaughn.

The other robbers, William Morris and Alfred Rosenauer aka Rose, were alerted to the detectives descending on their small room.  Morris was standing with his revolver pointed at the door.  As soon as the detectives entered, he started shooting.

Dwyer was the first in the door and was shot in the abdomen.  He fell to the floor breaking a chair.  Rosenauer left his cover to attack the downed officer, which proved to be a fatal mistake.  Dwyer fatally shot him from the floor.

McCluskey was next in and was shot in the abdomen also.  He slumped over onto the bed and his revolver fell under him taking him out of the fight.  Morris shot Shea in the chest but Shea continued firing along with Dwyer.  Morris shot four times finally collapsed.

Shea exited the room and fell into Boyle’s arms.  Boyle took him to a safe area, where Shea died almost immediately.  Boyle assisted James with Vaughn, who was putting up more resistance.  James and Boyle subdued Vaughn, whose skull suffered for his resistance.

Alerted by the gunfire, other officers began to arrive.  Rose and Shea were dead.  Dwyer, McCluskey and Morris were in grave condition.  Morris was the only one who could speak.  He bragged about shooting the officers and said he would shoot more if he had more ammunition.

Dwyer died during surgery on October 21st.  McCluskey died the next day.  Morris, who the St. Louis Republic described as an impressive physical specimen of 6’01” and 190 pounds, lived two more weeks.  When his victims from the train robbery identified him, he swore at them and said they better hope he died.

Harry Vaughn was convicted of the train robbery and several robberies in St. Louis over the past few months.  The men had robbed a train in 1898 and shot a brakeman.  They were paroled for this crime in June 1904 and began a new crime spree almost immediately.  According to In the Line of Duty: St. Louis Police Officers Who Made the Ultimate Sacrifice by Barb Miksicek, et. al, Vaughn would be executed for leading a prison riot.

In only one other incident did so many officers lose their lives. Electricity was responsible for this loss of life.

1904 brought the World’s Fair and lots of great memories for St. Louisans.  It also brought one of its worst shootouts and something we don’t ever want to see repeated.

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