Feb 14, 1929: Al Capone's St. Valentine's Day Massacre In Chicago

The Infamous Al Capone




Written by Tony Long

1929: The art of the gangland slaying takes a quantum leap when mobsters working for Al Capone use the cutting-edge technology of the day -- the Thompson submachine gun -- to wipe out a rival gang in a garage on Chicago's North Side.

The St. Valentine's Day massacre wasn't the first time a mobster used the Tommy gun in a rub-out, but the slaughter -- seven men were killed -- was unprecedented and therefore shocking, even by jaded Chicago standards.

The massacre was ordered by Capone to wipe out George "Bugs" Moran and his North Side Gang, which was muscling in on Capone's bootlegging operations. The plan was to lure Moran and as many of his men as possible to a garage at 2122 North Clark Street and take care of business there. Although a shipment of smuggled alcohol is usually given as the bait used, what actually brought Moran's men there that night remains unclear.

Moran, however, was a no-show. A Capone lookout mistakenly identified one of the mobsters as Moran, and Capone's men closed in. Two of them, disguised as cops, succeeded in disarming Moran's mugs, who probably suspected some kind of shakedown. The "cops" lined up the gangsters against the back wall of the garage as if they were going to be frisked. They were, with .45 caliber slugs from a couple of Thompsons brought in by two plain-clothed killers.

Although the Tommy guns provided plenty of firepower, these were professionals. The executioners used shotguns to seal the deal.

Incredibly, one of the victims, Frank Gusenberg, was discovered alive and made it to the hospital, even reviving briefly before dying. True to the gangsters' code, though, he went to his grave without squealing. "I'm not gonna talk. Nobody shot me," Gusenberg said before expiring.

Lacking eyewitnesses, the police made no arrests, even though there was never a doubt who lay behind the St. Valentine's Day massacre. And if Capone failed to physically eliminate Moran, the damage was done. Moran lost power and eventually control of the North Side.

As for the Thompson, although it went on to be used effectively during World War II, it will forever be identified as the mob's favorite weapon.

From Wired "Feb. 14, 1929: Al Capone's .45 Caliber Valentine"