The Massacre on Valentine's Day Morning

The Massacre on Valentine's Day Morning
As per plan, around 10:30 A.M. on Thursday, February 14, 1929, Burke's men drove up to the garage of the S-M-C Cartage Company in the Lincoln Park neighborhood on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois in a stolen police car. Of the five shooters, two were in the police uniform and three in ordinary street clothes. Capone's men saw seven of Moran's gang members but not Moran himself. Shooters in police uniform ask Moran's gang members to line up facing the wall. Thinking that their captors to be relatively harmless policemen who have come to raid the place, the gangsters followed the instructions. Burke's shooters instantly shot and killed the men with Thompson submachine guns. Of the seven men killed in the massacre six belonged to Moran's gang - James Clark, Frank and Pete Gusenberg, Adam Meyer, Johnny May and Al Weinshank. Seventh man was an optician - Dr. Reinhardt Schwimmer who enjoyed the company of gangsters.

In order to leave without raising suspicion in the eyes of the possible witnesses, the men in street clothes marched out of the garage with their hands raised. Those in police uniform walked behind them, giving the appearance that the police caught the bootleggers and all was well.

Though the massacre was carried out just as planned, it missed the prime target Moran who was per chance late for the meeting. When Moran was about to reach, he saw the police car pulling up near the garage. Moran retraced to avoid being caught up in the raid.

Aftermath of the Massacre
Only Frank ‘Tight Lips' Gusenberg was found alive by the real police when it reached the crime spot. He too succumbed after arriving at Alexian Brothers Hospital. Gusenberg refused to name his attackers making the case more challenging for the investigating team who had to work extremely hard tracing the clues to establish the plan of the criminal. Prime suspect of the massacre, Al Capone and McGurn proved their alibi and shooters were never identified. Thus, in the absence of concrete proof nobody was ever punished for the dreadful Valentine's Day Massacre.