TODAY’S WEATHER: BUCKSHOT & LEAD

  ( THE PLAYERS )                                                                                                                                                                                           This story is very complicated more than any other story  I’ve covered. With that in mind, we are going to tell it by staying with the Shootout it’s self. There is so much in this story alone, that the rabbit hole of research was never-ending. The Shootout it’s self did not take very long. The action that transpired in that short amount of time, left 3 dead when it was over.  First, let us take a look at those involved.                                            Baby Face Nelson,  he is Born  Lester Joseph Gillis  December 6, 1908, in  Chicago Illinois. Died November 27, 1934, aged 25 years in  Wilmette Illinois.                                                                                                         John Paul Chase,  he is Born December 26, 1901, in  San Francisco California.  Died of cancer on October 5, 1973, aged 71 years in  Palo Alto California.                                                                                                                Helen Wawrzyniak Gillis,  no available information on her Birth or Death.             Special Agent- Samuel Parkinson Cowley,  Born July 23, 1899, in  Franklin Idaho.  Died November 28, 1934, in  Barrington, Illinois.  His father  Matthias Foss Cowley  was an Apostle for  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  Sam was born from the  4th  wife  Luella Parkinson Cowley,  he is given his mother’s maiden name as his middle name. Don’t ever say we don’t dig deep.                                                                           Special Agent- Herman Edward Hollis,  Born January 27, 1903, in  Des Moines Iowa.  Died November 27, 1934, in  Barrington Illinois.  Hollis was 1 of 3  FBI Agents  who murdered, oh sorry shot and killed John Dillinger.                                                                                                                                                                                                     Barrington, Illinois  is located in  Lake  &  Cook  counties, it is 4.79sq. miles with  4.61sq. miles of land and 0.19sq miles of water. The estimated population in 2019 was  10,217.  It’s  3,213  during the time of the shootout.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    (BULLETS FLYING PEOPLE DYING )                                                                                                                                     Like I said earlier this story has an amazing backstory, so here is just a little timeline of events prior too our  Barrington Shootout. These events though cut short on detail are still very important and should be apart of this story. June 7,  Tommy Carroll,  Dillinger gang member was shot dead by Police while trying to avoid arrest in Waterloo, Iowa. June 27, former  Dillinger  gang gopher  Pat Reilly  was arrested in  St. Paul Minnesota.  June 30,  Nelson, Dillinger, Van Meter, robbed the  Merchants National Bank  in  South Bend, Indiana.  During the robbery,  Nelson  gets into a firefight with a local jeweler, who shoots  Nelson  in the chest.  Nelson  is not wounded cause he is wearing a bulletproof vest. As the police arrive bullets just start flying everywhere. Buildings being hit, windows shot out and exploding into the air, bullets ricochet off nearby parked cars. The only people hit bystanders and the hostages that the gang encircled them selfs with. Van Meter  is grazed in the head but no problem. Chicago  July 15, the gang held a reunion meeting at a favorite secluded site. When the meeting was interrupted by 2  Illinois State Troopers,  Fred McAllister  and  Gilbert  Cross,  Nelson  opened fired on them, wounding both and they got the fuck out of there. Although  Cross  was badly wounded, both he and McAllister survived.                                                                  July 22, 1934,  Dillinger  was ambushed and killed by  FBI  agents outside the Biograph Theater  in  Lincoln Park, Chicago. August 23,  Van Meter  was ambushed and killed by police in  St. Paul, Minnesota,  leaving  Nelson  as the sole survivor of the so-called  “Second Dillinger Gang”.                                                                ( TIME TO DIE )                                                                                                                                                                                   When the  Nelsons  and  Chase  did return to the  Lake Como Inn where they were staying on November 27, they briefly came face to face with surprised and unprepared  FBI  agents who had staked it out. They high tailed it without any shots being fired. With a description of a black Ford V8 & its license plate number  (639-578),  agents flooded the area.  Nelson,  along with his wife Helen Gillis and associate John Paul Chase, headed south in a stolen V8 Ford towards Chicago on U.S. Highway 12 (now US-14). Nelson, always keen to spot federal agents, caught sight of a sedan driven in the opposite direction by agents  Thomas McDade  and  William Ryan.  Both parties simultaneously recognized each other and after several U-turns by both vehicles,  Nelson  wound up in pursuit of the agents’ car. When Nelson’s powerful Ford caught up to the agents’ weaker sedan,  Nelson  and  Chase  opened fire on the agents.  Ryan  and  McDade  returned fire, sped up, then pulled into a field and awaited Nelson and Chase, who had stopped pursuing.  McDade  and  Ryan were unaware that one of their bullets had punctured the water pump of  Nelson’s  Ford. With  Nelson’s  Ford rapidly losing power, a Hudson automobile driven by  Hollis  and  Cowley  began pursuing the Ford. Nelson  told Helen, who was driving, to pull into the entrance of  Barrington’s North Side Park  and stop. Hollis  and  Cowley  overshot  Nelson’s  car by more then  100 feet and slid and came to a stop on an angle. As they exited the passenger door, the agents ducked behind their car. What happen next was witnessed by more than 12 people.                                                                                                   Nelson told  Helen  to take cover in a nearby ditch, then he and Chase opened fire on the agents.  Cowley  and  Hollis were already shooting from behind their car. A single  .45 slug  from Cowley’s  machine gun hit  Nelson in the gut, slicing the liver and pancreas before coming out of his lower back. Nelson  leaned on the Ford’s running board bleeding very badly, without speaking a word he exchanged weapons with  Chase. With bullets flying and pinging everywhere. Chase  heard  Nelson  complain that his weapon was jamming, a bloody  Nelson  swapped it out for a  .351 Winchester rifle  that had been customized to fire fully automatic. This is yet another talent of his. Bloody and growing weak,  Nelson  moved from behind the car and like something out of a war movie, he charges at the agents while firing the Winchester. 2 of his bullets hit  Cowley  in the chest and stomach, dropping him to the ground instantly. Buckshot pellets from  Hollis’s  shotgun then struck Nelson  in the legs that dropped him like a bad habit.
Nelson  some how regains  his feet,  Hollis,  already shot, moved for more cover but only seen an utility pole. He drew his gun, at the same moment,  Nelson  shoots  Hollis  in the head.  Nelson  staggered over Hollis’s body, aimed his rifle at the agent  for a moment then limped toward the agents’  Hudson.  Nelson  drove the car over to the shot up Ford. They quickly loaded the agents’ car with the guns and supplies that were in the Ford,  Nelson  let  Chase  got behind the wheel and the 2 men &  Helen  got out of there as fast as they fucking could.  Nelson  was shot a total of 9 times; a single machine gun slug had struck his abdomen, which was the fatal one. 8 of  Hollis’s  shotgun pellets had hit his legs.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    (ONLY in NAME A “BABY FACE” )                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Nelson  gave directions as  Chase  drove them to a safe house on  Walnut Street  in  Wilmette.  Nelson died in bed with his wife at his side, at 7:35 p.m. His wife took his body the next day, wrapped in an American Trible blanket. She laid in front of  St. Paul’s Lutheran Cemetery. She said she wrapped him in a blanket cause,  “Lester didn’t like being cold”. Wow, like I said there is so much down this rabbit hole of the ERA of the gangster, real gangsters. Hope you enjoyed it there will be more like this coming so stay tuned in,, in the meantime,, http://anchor.fm/victor60 check out shows from season 1 and intro into season 2 Anchor the Home of The 3rd Floor Podcast we are also on Spotify  http://open.spotify.com/show/2NDBZGveBJPYFjwaDkyukv   Not only do you get the Podcast but access to over 50 of the 3rd Floor Podcast playlist music and comedy for everyone. Oh yeah iTunes as well  http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-3rd-floor-podcast/id1434433319?mt=2&uo=4 Please leave a 5 Star review and a comment thank you so much so until next time we’ll be here just “HANGIN OUT IN  TIME AND SPACE ”                                                                                                                                                                                             “Time to  find out what’s going on up there”!