Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed. - G.K. Chesterton
"On February 14, 1929, in an unheated brick garage at 2122 N. Clark St., seven men were lined up against a whitewashed wall and pumped with 90 bullets from submachine guns, shotguns and a revolver. It was the most infamous of all gangland slayings in America, and it savagely achieved its purpose--the elimination of the last challenge to Al Capone for the mantle of crime boss in Chicago. By 1929, Capone's only real threat was George "Bugs" Moran, who headed his own gang and what was left of Dion O'Banion's band of bootleggers. Moran had long despised Capone, mockingly referring to him as "The Beast."
At about 10:30 a.m., four men burst into the SMC Cartage Co. garage that Moran used for his illegal business. Two of the men were dressed as police officers. The quartet presumably announced a raid and ordered the seven men inside the garage to line up against a wall.
Then they opened fire. Witnesses, alerted by the rat-a-tat staccato of submachine guns, watched as the gunmen sped off in a black Cadillac touring car that looked like the kind police used, complete with siren, gong and rifle rack.The victims, killed outright or left dying in the garage, included Frank "Hock" Gusenberg, Moran's enforcer, and his brother, Peter "Goosy" Gusenberg. Four of the other victims were Moran gangsters, but the seventh dead man was Dr. Reinhardt Schwimmer, an optician who cavorted with criminals for thrills. Missing that morning was Capone's prize, Moran, who slept in.
Capone missed the excitement too. Vacationing at his retreat at Palm Island, Fla., he had an alibi for his whereabouts and disclaimed knowledge of the coldblooded killings. Few believed him. No one ever went to jail for pulling a trigger in the Clark Street garage, which was demolished in 1967.
Although Moran survived the massacre, he was finished as a big criminal. For decades to come, only one mob, that of Capone and his successors, would run organized crime in Chicago. But the Valentine's Day Massacre shocked a city that had been numbed by "Roaring '20s" gang warfare over control of illegal beer and whiskey distribution."
1. During the prohibition era, Al Capone controlled Chicago's underworld with dozens of murders attributed to him and his gang, including the St. Valentine's Day massacre in 1929.
1a. The Werner Storage Company building located at 2122 N. Clark St., shown here in 1953 is the scene of the St. Valentine's Day massacre on Feb. 14, 1929. The building was torn down December 1967.
2. The only witness to the massacre was a dog named 'Highball.' He was never the same after the massacre and had to be put down by police.
3. A crowd outside the Clark Street garage, owned by George "Bugs" Moran, where the St. Valentine's Day massacre took place on Feb. 14, 1929.
3a. News of the massacre made headlines across the country and served as a wake-up call to the public about the extent of organized crime's violence and power.
4. The coroner jurors watch a re-enactment of the St. Valentine's Day massacre of 1929.
5. On April 19, 1929, Coroner Herman N. Bundesen, right, and Lt. Col. C. H. Goddard look over machine guns believed to be used in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. Coroner Bundesen had summoned all firearm dealers in the area who had been known to sell machine guns to the coroner's jury in Chicago.
8. The bodies of six of the seven men slain on Feb. 14, 1929, in the S. M. C. Cartage Company garage at 2122 N. Clark St. on Chicago's North Side in what became known as the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, sprawl on a floor and a chair. Several of the dead were members of a North Side gang run by George "Bugs" Moran, who had a rivalry with Al Capone and his gang.
10. The body of one of the seven victims is placed in an ambulance with Coroner Herman M. Bundesen, center, in attendance after the mass shooting occurred.
11. The coroners jury, led by Coroner Herman N. Bundesen, left, at the inquest for the Clark Street St. Valentine's Day Massacre on Feb. 15, 1929. The coroner said 20 to 25 bullets were found in each of the seven bodies.
12. Businessman George Patey purchased these bricks in the late 1960s before the destruction of the Chicago garage where the Massacre occurred. He tried several business ventures with the bricks, from putting them in a club restroom to selling them by mail.
13. Although he was never prosecuted for the crime, it is widely believed that Al Capone was behind the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.
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