On a tragic morning at the Union Station railroad depot in Kansas City, Missouri, McAlester, Oklahoma Police Chief Orrin H. 'Ott' Reed, a 48-year-old male, was killed in a hail of gunfire that would come to be known as the Kansas City Massacre. The violent shootout occurred on June 17, 1933, as Chief Reed and other law enforcement officers were escorting a captured federal fugitive, Frank 'Jelly' Nash, to a waiting car. The officers were returning Nash to the U.S.
Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas, from which he had previously escaped.
Unbeknownst to the lawmen, their plans had been leaked to the criminal underworld. As they prepared to depart Union Station, a group of gunmen ambushed them in an attempt to free Nash. The ensuing gun battle was swift and brutal, lasting only about 30 seconds. In the deadly exchange of fire, Chief Reed was killed, along with Kansas City detectives William Grooms and Frank Hermanson, and FBI Special Agent Raymond Caffrey. The very man the criminals sought to liberate, Frank Nash, was also shot and killed in the crossfire.
The investigation that followed pointed to members of a gang led by Vernon C. Miller, with notorious outlaw Charles 'Pretty Boy' Floyd and his associate Adam Richetti named as the primary suspects in the bloody assault. While historical debate continues over Floyd's actual involvement, the FBI launched a massive manhunt for all involved. Vernon Miller was later found murdered in November 1933, the victim of a separate underworld dispute. In October of the following year, Pretty Boy Floyd was tracked down and killed in a shootout with law enforcement officers. Adam Richetti was apprehended, stood trial for the murders committed during the massacre, and was ultimately convicted. He was sentenced to death and executed in 1938. Another gang member implicated in the crime was also arrested and executed for the murders, while a third was found dead from an unrelated killing.
