RUNNING GUN FIGHT.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 18845, 7 April 1931, Page 2

RUNNING GUN FIGHT.

NEW YORK PURSUIT. A running fight between bandits and a policeman electrified New York on February 11. While on duty in Brooklyn, a policeman named Skelly attempted to halt a car containing three members of a gang responsible for 50 robberies in the district since the New Year. Their response was to fire five shots at the constable, all of which missed, and then the driver tried to run him down. The officer jumped to safety, and, commandeering a passing car, gave chase to the bandits. There followed a pursuit across the eastern boroughs of New York more sensational that any film climax yec invented. Standing on the running board, Skelly fired shot after shot as the bandits’ car raced at reckless speed through the crowded streets. One of the bandits was wounded. At the boundary of Brooklyn the bandits’ car collided with another and, being thrown out, they made a dash for a station of New York's elevated railway. Skelly. close behind, caught one of the bandits as he was climbing over the bridge, and, in view of 300 terrified passengers in a train, fired a shot that sent the gangster crashing 50 ffeet to his death in the street below. A taxicab containing two Roman Catholic priests wa»s passing at that moment, and they dismounted to render the last rites to the dying robber. Meanwhile, the second bandit had sought refuge on the train, causing panic among the passengers, who started pouring out of it. Skelly, however, cornered him in the motorman’s cab, and prevented him from setting the train in motion. The policeman gave him a chance to come out without shooting, but as the robber appeared, revolver in hand, Skelly felled him with a blow of his first. The third bandit escaped.