Valentine's Day Massacre: Capone's Gangsters Execute Seven
Five men in overcoats and fedoras pushed through the door of the S-M-C Cartage Company warehouse on Chicago's North Side on February 14, 1929, and lined seven members of Bugs Moran's North Side Gang against a brick wall. Two of the gunmen wore police uniforms to ensure compliance. They opened fire with Thompson submachine guns and a shotgun, killing six men instantly. Frank Gusenberg, hit fourteen times, survived long enough to reach the hospital, where he told police 'No one shot me' before dying. Bugs Moran, the intended target, arrived late and saw the 'police cars' outside, so he kept walking. The massacre was almost certainly ordered by Al Capone, who was in Florida at the time establishing an alibi. No one was ever convicted. The savagery of the killing turned public opinion against organized crime and led directly to Capone's prosecution for tax evasion two years later.
February 14, 1929
97 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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