St. Valentine's Day Massacre
- Lauren Pawloski
- Feb 14
- 5 min read
Disclaimer: this article contains mention of alcohol, prostitution, gambling, guns, shooting, and death. Reader discretion is advised.
Instead of being handcuffed and taken into custody, all seven men were shot to death with an estimated 70 rounds of ammunition.
Chicago in the 1920’s
In the 1920’s, Chicago was the crime capital of the world. The era of prohibition began in 1920 following the passing of the 18th amendment. American gangsters took this opportunity to turn from street rats and hoodlums to millionaires.
With the manufacture and sale of alcohol now illegal in the United States, gangsters saw the perfect opportunity to become rich. Gangs both made their own alcohol and smuggled it in from other countries like Canada. Gangsters would then sell and distribute this alcohol, called bootlegging, in speakeasies, which were secret bars for drinking, prostitution, and gambling. This lucrative black market led to massive competition between gangs; rival gangs stole or sabotaged shipments of alcohol and often settled disputes with their trusty tommy guns.
At the center of this conflict were lifelong enemies Al Capone and George “Bugs” Moran.
Scarface and Bugs
Al “Scarface” Capone (1899-1947) was the chief crime lord of the South Side Gang in Chicago. Capone dominated bootlegging in Chicago, earning an estimated $60 million a year; his net worth in 1927 reaching around $100 million. But his ambitions were higher—he wanted to dominate all throughout the midwest. These aspirations were challenged by arch rival Bugs.
Irish gangster George “Bugs” Moran (1893-1957) ran his own gang in Chicago that was also deeply invested in bootlegging. Bugs' gang ran the North Side of Chicago, rivaling Capone's on the South Side. Bugs largely ran his bootlegging out of a garage on North Clark Street. On February 14th, 1929, Bugs missed his own slaughter by mere minutes.
The Massacre
The war between these rival gangs reached its violent climax around 10:30 a.m. on St. Valentine’s Day in 1929. Seven members of Bugs' gang were approached by four men exiting a police car, two of which dressed in police uniforms, and were told to line up against a wall. Assuming that they had been busted for their illegal activities, Bugs' men did as they were told. Instead of being handcuffed and taken into custody, all seven men were shot to death with an estimated 70 rounds of ammunition.
The criminals who committed this heinous crime were suspected to be Al Capone’s men. Undoubtedly, this was to be a hit on Bugs Moran. Fortunately for Bugs, as he was arriving with two of his lackey’s, he spotted a police car outside his garage and walked an extra lap around the block to evade being seen. Upon his late arrival to the scene, he realized that he missed his own death by mere minutes.
One of Bugs' men, Frank Gusenberg, did not die immediately. Seeing as Gusenberg had suffered 22 bullet wounds and was still alive, he was rushed to the hospital. Before he succumbed to his injuries in the hospital, it is on record that he said “police” were responsible for the shooting, corroborating the story that the men that committed the massacre were dressed as police.
Despite the largely popular theory that Capone was responsible for this massacre, no charges were made against him due to a lack of evidence. A few days after the massacre, Bugs told reporters “Only Capone kills like that.” Capone claimed to be in Florida at the time of the shooting and publicly responded to Bugs, saying, “The only man who kills like that is Bugs Moran.”
Public Response
News of the massacre consumed every newspaper headline, selling millions of copies across the country. A public that once supported Capone was now horrifically turned against him.
Prior to the massacre, the general public saw Al Capone as a heroic figure. Capone had friends among the locals in Chicago and had alliances with those in power. The wildfire of news led to Chicago police cracking down on gangs, busting thousands of speakeasies, costing the gangs that outfitted them tons of money. The American public demanded a crackdown—at a national level.
President Herbert Hoover called on federal law enforcement agencies to track down and hold the perpetrators accountable. Roughly a month after the massacre, a group of influential Chicagoans met with Herbert Hoover to further urge his crackdown of crime in the windy city. The majority of crime was mainly attributed to Al Capone and his gang. Hoover told William D. Mitchell, the current attorney general, to “get Capone.”
After two long years of trying to pin Capone with any number of his crimes, Capone was finally convicted of tax evasion. After the investigative work of the Treasury Department’s Special Intelligence Unit, they were able to track down money trails of Capone’s mass earnings, and were able to prove he wasn’t paying taxes on his enormous (mostly illegal) income. Capone was then sentenced to 11 years in prison.
Upon being released, he was arrested another time on separate charges. Despite the time he served, he was never charged or prosecuted in relation to the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. The massacre is largely considered to be both the peak and the downfall of Al Capone’s criminal career.
Who Did It?
The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre remains as one of the biggest unsolved cases in American History; or is it unsolved?
The use of ballistics testing was a rising study at the time of this massacre. Dr. Calvin Goddard was a pioneer in the field. His examination of the crime scene allowed him to determine that two tommy guns and one shotgun were the weapons used in the killing.
The arrest of Fred “Killer” Burke led to major advancements in the case. Burke was one of Al Capone’s men who fled to Michigan after the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. After claiming a new identity in Michigan, he ended up shooting and killing a police officer, and fled yet again to Kentucky. Under another new identity in Kentucky, he was eventually discovered to not be a wealthy businessman, but a wanted criminal.
Police raided Burke’s house in Kentucky and found a large stash of guns. Among these guns were two tommy guns. Dr. Goddard tested these weapons and was able to determine that they were indeed the weapons used in the massacre. Burke now had a lot of explaining to do.
Although no prosecutions or charges were ever brought against any of Capone’s men, evidence and theories compiled over the years had led to a close in the case. The most popular theory is that the massacre was committed by the “American Boys,” a gang out of St. Louis that worked for Al Capone.
Despite never being prosecuted for their roles in the Massacre, most of the American Boys paid for their wrongdoings. Some of the men served jail time for other crimes and four others were murdered before they could be arrested. It’s very possible that the four murders of the American Boys was a result of the Capone’s gang not wanting to risk the men admitting to the Massacre.
The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre is undoubtedly an incredible chapter in Chicago’s tumultuous history of gangs and organized crime.
So interesting, so well written. You're slaying Lauren!