POLICE CHIEF SHOT

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 122, 25 May 1936, Page 7

POLICE CHIEF SHOT

MELBOURNE SENSATION MISTAKEN FOR BOOKMAKER Received Alav 21, 9.5 p.m. MELBOURNE, May 21. Superintendent John O’Connell Brophy, who began duty as chief of the Victorian Criminal Investigation Branch a week ago, was shot in the face and right arm in some mysterious manner. The Police Department are exceedingly reticent. It is reported that four shots were fired by a gangster from a cur, one bullet striking Brophy’s cheek, another his right arm, a third the back of his neck and the fourth over his heart, but the latter bullet was deflected by something in his pocket. He is not in a serious condition. A police press bureau official, in a statement, declared that Brophy was accidentally shot in the right arm while handling his own pistol at the police headquarters. Newspaper reporters, who were banned at the detective office, however, ascertained that Brophy was shot by a hold-up gang who mistook him for a prominent Melbourne bookmaker who habitually carries a large sum of money and resides in Parkville suburb.