The Saint Valentines Day Massacre.

Written By Jakob Clifford

   On February 14th, 1929, police officers from the 36th district responded to shots fired in Chicago. When they arrived, there were seven bodies full of bullets. Of the 7, only one was barely alive, and when they asked who shot him, he would not say anything before finally dying. That marks the height of gang violence in Chicago and has become one of the most notorious mysteries of American history. 

  In 1920's Chicago, organized crime was at an all-time high. Prohibition just came into effect, so bootlegging operations became a money-making source for gangs. One gangster was Al Capone. He was born in Brooklyn to his immigrant family. After quitting school, he joined multiple street gangs throughout his time in Brooklyn, where he met several soon-to-be notorious gangsters, including John Torrio. Later in 1920, Capone got an invitation from Torrio to go to Chicago and joined the Colosimo mob. He became a lieutenant and was in charge of multiple operations. After Big Joe Colosimo died, Torrio took complete control of the gang with Capone as his right-hand man. After five years under Torrio's leadership, Capone took charge when Torrio relinquished control after an attempted assassination due to his wounds. Capone went on to eliminate multiple rival gangs in Chicago, earning a notorious reputation. 

     At around 10:30 A.M. on February 14th, 1929, police officers found seven bullet-ridden bodies lined up against a wall. They were all part of George "Bugs" Moran's Northern Gang. They were Albert Kachellek, Moran's second in command. Adam Heyer, the bookkeeper of Moran's gang. Albert Weinshank, who managed multiple operations for Moran's Gang.  Frank and Peter Gusenberg, who was the gang's top enforcers. Finally, Reinhardt Schwimmer, along with John May, two collaborators. Moran was supposed to be part of the group but left his hotel late. Upon further inspection, they found that Frank Gusenburg was just barely alive, and they immediately rushed him to the hospital. He had over 14 bullets in him. When they questioned him on who did it, he said, "no one shot me." He died 3 hours later.

     After getting the witness and coroner reports, the police concluded what happened. Moran's men walked into an abandoned warehouse. A few minutes later, A Cadillac pulled up in the front, and four men walked inside. There were two police officers and two civilians. The police officers had shotguns, and the civilians had Thompson SMGs. The fake officers made the 7 line up against the wall. After they lined up, the two civilians opened fire and shot over 70 rounds of ammunition. After that, the two fake officers shot John May and Albert Kachellek in the face with their shotguns, making them nearly unrecognizable. 
 
    When the police questioned Moran after the killings, he said," Only Capone kills like that." When police interrogated Capone, who was in his Florida home, He said, "Only Moran kills like that."No one o who was behind it, but People still believe that Capone ordered the killings. Sadly Capone nor anyone else was brought on charges for the St. Valentines day Massacre as it was later known.