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171-608: The siege of Sidney Street of January 1911, also known as the Battle of Stepney , was a gunfight in the East End of London between a combined police and army force and two Latvian revolutionaries. The siege was the culmination of a series of events that began in December 1910, with an attempted jewellery robbery at Houndsditch in the City of London by a gang of Latvian immigrants which resulted in

342-402: A U-Haul truck, they were stopped at a roadblock set up by police. In a second shootout, police officers Waverly Brown and Ed O'Grady were killed and the robbers fled the scene in several different directions. Four of the robbers were arrested during their escape attempt, and more than six other people involved were arrested in subsequent investigations over the next several years. The last arrest

513-473: A silent film ; A second film version, The Siege of Sidney Street was released in 1960. A highly fictionalised re-imagining of the events form a sub-plot of the 2014 novel The Tottenham Outrage by Matthew Baylis . Although there was some initial confusion about the backgrounds of Helfeld and Lepidus— The Star reported that they were Italians—the actions of the two men led to a debate on immigration control . In early February 1909 Herbert Gladstone ,

684-523: A "well-defined intensely Jewish district". Some of the expatriates were revolutionaries, many of whom were unable to adapt to life in the politically less oppressive London. The social historian William J. Fishman writes that "the meschuggena (crazy) Anarchists were almost accepted as part of the East End landscape"; the terms " socialist " and " anarchist " had been conflated in the British press, who used

855-447: A 911 call from Poplawski's mother, who was attempting to get the police officers to remove her son from the home. Three police officers were ultimately confirmed dead, and another two were seriously injured. Poplawski was armed with a semi-automatic AK-47 -style rifle and two other guns, protected by a bulletproof vest, and had been lying in wait for the officers. According to police and witnesses, he held police at bay for four hours as

1026-465: A Home Secretary taking police operational command decisions". In a subsequent letter to The Times , Churchill clarified his role while he was present: I did not interfere in any way with the dispositions made by the police authorities on the spot. I never overruled those authorities nor overrode them. From beginning to end the police had an absolutely free hand. ... I did not send for the Artillery or

1197-470: A bank robbery call in Norco. Upon arriving the police were ambushed and outgunned. After the robbers unloaded over 300 rounds at police cruisers, the officers were forced to retreat behind their cruisers or nearby obstacles, all the while being fired upon. The suspects attempted to escape in their own vehicle. During this attempt, the driver of the suspects was killed by a stray police shot. The suspects then hijacked

1368-574: A brawl between rival biker gangs in front of a Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco, Texas escalated into a shootout between rival gangs as well as police. Nine people were killed and 18 others were injured. On October 1, 2015, after killing nine civilians and injuring nine others at Umpqua Community College near Roseburg, Oregon , shooter Christopher Harper Mercer engaged in a shootout with responding police officers before killing himself. On July 7, 2016, enraged by

1539-520: A coffee shop in the Parkland unincorporated area of Pierce County , Washington . One gunman ( Maurice Clemmons ) entered the coffee shop and fired at the officers as they sat working on their laptop computers. One of the officers returned fire before being killed, wounding Clemmons, but he was still able to flee the scene. After a 2-day manhunt that spanned several cities in the Puget Sound region, Clemmons

1710-492: A courthouse in Marin County, California with an arsenal of weapons. After storming into a room where a trial was taking place, Jackson armed defendant James McClain, who was on trial for murdering a prison guard, and two fellow convicts who were participating in the trial as witnesses, William Christmas and Ruchell Magee . The four armed men then took the judge, a district attorney and three jurors hostage, and marched them out of

1881-448: A crowd of up to half a million mourners, including 2,000 policemen. The event exacerbated ill feeling towards immigrants in London, and much of the press coverage was anti-Semitic in nature. This affected public sentiment after another armed robbery by Latvian immigrants in December 1910, which resulted in the murder of three policemen; the events culminated in the siege of Sidney Street . In

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2052-572: A cylinder of compressed gas and a selection of tools, including diamond-tipped drills. Some of this equipment had been obtained from the Italian anarchist exile Errico Malatesta , who had a workshop in Islington; he was not aware it was for use in a robbery. With the exception of Gardstein, the identities of the gang members present in Houndsditch on the night of 16 December 1910 have never been confirmed. It

2223-629: A distance of six miles (10 km); Helfeld and Lepidus had fired an estimated 400 rounds of ammunition. Twenty-three casualties were reported, two of them fatal and several others serious. Seven policemen were among the casualties. The bulk of the money from the robbery was never recovered, with the exception of a £5 bag of silver coins found on Lepidus. Two inquests were held on 26 January 1909, that of Lepidus in Walthamstow, and that of PC Tyler and 10-year-old Ralph Joscelyne in Tottenham. The coroner in

2394-410: A downstairs window and removed the children from the house. PC Charles Eagles borrowed a pistol from a bystander and climbed a ladder at the back of the house. He was in a position to shoot, but he did not understand how the safety catch worked, and the gun failed to fire. Eagles descended and entered the house with PC John Cater and Detective Constable Charles Dixon. The three noticed sooty hand prints on

2565-582: A fire which burned down 62 houses and killed 11 people. On April 11, 1986, two FBI agents and two suspects were killed in a prolonged and intense firefight between the FBI and bank-robbery suspects William Matix and Michael Platt in Miami, Florida . The event became one of the most famous shootouts in American history, with ten participants (eight FBI agents and two suspects), roughly 145 rounds fired, and four deaths. Even though

2736-521: A fire. All six SLA members were killed, either by police bullets or the fire. The SLA's leader, Donald DeFreeze , committed suicide. On May 9, 1980, a bank robbery led to a prolonged shootout and chase between police in Norco, California , and five heavily armed bank robbers wearing military-style fatigues and armed with semi-automatic rifles and thousands of rounds of hollow-point bullets as well as various explosive and incendiary devices. Police responded to

2907-560: A group of Comancheros broke away and formed the first Bandidos Motorcycle Club chapter in Australia. Seven people were killed and twenty-eight injured when the two groups clashed at Milperra. The event was a catalyst for significant changes to gun laws in New South Wales. On 14 November 1990, after a shooting rampage which killed up to 13 people (including a police officer) in the small seaside township of Aramoana , New Zealand , members of

3078-474: A group of three men and a woman, and thought one of the men was drunk as he was being helped by his friends. The group went to Svaars' and Peter the Painter's lodgings at 59 Grove Street (now Golding Street), off Commercial Road, where Gardstein was tended by two of the gang's associates, Milstein and Trassjonsky. As they left Gardstein on the bed, Peters left his Dreyse pistol under the mattress, either to make it seem

3249-500: A handgun before fleeing in his Ford Explorer and later died by suicide . On December 5, 2019, the Miami-Dade Police Department engaged in a shootout with jewelry store robbers at a busy intersection. On February 2, 2021, FBI agents served a search warrant on a house of suspect who was suspected of abusing minors. The suspect ambushed the FBI agents, shooting five agents, two of whom were mortally wounded. The suspect

3420-570: A high-speed chase, exchanging gunfire along the way. Arroyo was eventually shot and killed by a responding officer armed with a CAR-15 rifle. A shootout occurred on April 4, 2009, at 1016 Fairfield Street in the Stanton Heights neighborhood of Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania , stemming from an argument over a dog urinating in the house between a mother and her 22-year-old son. At approximately 7:11 a.m. EDT , 22-year-old Richard Poplawski opened fire on two Pittsburgh Police officers responding to

3591-544: A highway outside Barrington. Nelson pursued the FBI agents, exchanging gunfire with them, until his car was disabled. Two more agents, Special Agent Herman "Ed" Hollis and Inspector Sam Cowley , arrived on the scene and engaged Nelson and Chase in a shootout. Though Nelson was wounded seventeen times by the agents, he and Chase were able to fatally injure both Hollis and Cowley. Nelson escaped, only to die that evening from his injuries. On November 1, 1950, Puerto Rican nationalists Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola engaged in

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3762-530: A liaison officer to the City of London force throughout the investigation. Gardstein's body was removed to a local mortuary where his face was cleaned, his hair brushed, his eyes opened and his photograph taken. The picture, and descriptions of those who had helped Gardstein escape from Exchange Buildings, were distributed on posters in English and Russian, asking locals for information. About 90 detectives vigorously searched

3933-603: A lodger, Betty Gershon, who was Sokoloff's mistress. The informant was persuaded to visit the property the following day to confirm the two men were still present. A meeting took place on the afternoon of 2 January to decide the next steps. Wensley, high-ranking members of the Metropolitan force and Sir William Nott-Bower , the Commissioner of the City Police, were present. Just after midnight on 3 January, 200 police officers from

4104-494: A mark of respect; the nearby London Stock Exchange ceased trading for half an hour to allow traders and staff to watch the procession along Threadneedle Street . After the service, when the coffins were being transported on an eight-mile (13 km) journey to the cemeteries, it was estimated that 750,000 people lined the route, many throwing flowers onto the hearses as they passed. Identity parades were held at Bishopsgate police station on 23 December. Isaac Levy, who had seen

4275-453: A nearby vehicle and became involved in a prolonged chase, in which the suspects shot at police and disabled and destroyed 33 police vehicles (as well as civilian cars) with explosives thrown from the back of a truck. The suspects also disabled a police helicopter by shooting at it. Later, the suspects lay in wait for police as they chased them, and ambushed them, resulting in the death of a police officer and wounding two others. Heavily outgunned,

4446-540: A police band, men from the local fire brigade, a contingent from Royal Garrison Artillery and tramway employees. A volley of guns was fired at the end. The two were buried near each other at Abney Park Cemetery . Lepidus was buried the same day as Joscelyne and Tyler. He was interred in unconsecrated ground in a Walthamstow cemetery in a ceremony closed to the public. An armed guard was kept around Tottenham Hospital in case Helfeld tried to escape. Although his wounds had begun to heal, he contracted meningitis . Surgery

4617-459: A response from nearby sheriff's deputies and Tyler Police. Arroyo began trading gunfire with the officers, who were armed only with pistols, and forced them to retreat, wounding several of them. A passing civilian, Mark Allen Wilson , drew his own pistol and attempted to aid the officers but Arroyo was wearing body armor and Wilson's pistol failed to stop him; Wilson was shot and killed by Arroyo. Afterward, Arroyo jumped in his pickup and led police on

4788-598: A result, the British government passed the Aliens Act 1905 in an attempt to reduce immigration. The popular press reflected the opinions of many; a leading article in the Manchester Evening Chronicle supported the bill to bar "the dirty, destitute, diseased, verminous and criminal foreigner who dumps himself on our soil". The journalist Robert Winder , in his examination of immigration into Britain, opines that

4959-451: A second group in case the work needed to continue into the following day, which included among their number Sokolow and Svaars. Rumbelow considers a third group on standby, staying at Hoffman's lodgings, to have comprised Hoffman, Rosen and Osip Federoff, an unemployed locksmith. Rumbelow also considers that present at the events—either as lookouts or in unknown capacities—were Peter the Painter and Nina Vassilleva. On 16 December, working from

5130-467: A shootout in the parking lot of a restaurant near Newhall, California . In a span of five minutes, Davis and Twinning killed four CHP officers, making it the deadliest day in the history of Californian law enforcement. Davis was later arrested, while Twinning killed himself following a long standoff with police. On August 7, 1970, in an attempt to free his brother, imprisoned Black Panther leader George Jackson , 17-year-old Jonathan P. Jackson entered

5301-529: A shootout with officers of the Capitol Police and Secret Service while attempting to break into the Blair House and assassinate President Harry Truman . By the end of the gun battle, Torresola and officer Leslie Coffelt were killed in an event that firearms instructor Massad Ayoob called "the boldest attempt at home invasion in modern history". On August 1, 1966, Charles Whitman barricaded himself at

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5472-416: A small two-up two-down where a Mrs Rolstone and her children were present. Mrs Rolstone was at the front gate, having left the house on hearing the police whistles, when Lepidus entered the house behind her and bolted the door. When she saw Lepidus through the window—locked in with her children—she screamed, which attracted the police. When Lepidus went upstairs, one policeman, PC Dewhurst, broke in through

5643-499: A small group of Latvian agitators. For some time before the robbery, Helfeld was employed at the Schnurmann factory. The bravery of the police during the chase led to the creation of the King's Police Medal , which was awarded to several of those involved in the pursuit. A joint funeral for the two victims— Police Constable William Tyler and Ralph Joscelyne, a ten-year-old boy—was attended by

5814-680: A stake-out in Mayerthorpe , Alberta , Canada . The resulting shootout with other present RCMP officers came to an end when Roszko committed suicide after being wounded. On July 7, 2006, Constables Robin Cameron and Marc Bourdages of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were both shot in the head through the windshield of their cruiser after a 27 km car chase and shootout with Curtis Dagenais in rural Saskatchewan . Tottenham Outrage The Tottenham Outrage of 23 January 1909

5985-426: A ten-year-old boy—was caught by a round to the chest. Someone took him to hospital on a bicycle, but he was pronounced dead on arrival. The gunmen continued their escape, and headed towards Tottenham Marshes . PCs Tyler and Newman took a short cut, and confronted the two men near the site of a rubbish incinerator. Tyler approached the men and, when he was within 9 yards (8.2 m), was heard to say "Come on; give in,

6156-475: A transgender man named Aiden Hale (born Audrey Elizabeth Hale), was a former student of the school, firing their assault rifle through the glass doors of the school at 10:13am local time. A friend of the shooter had called 911 around this time, after having called a suicide prevention line, on her father's advice. Around the same time as the friend's call, someone at the school called 911 to report an active shooter situation. At 10:27am local time, 14 minutes after

6327-574: A week until they reached the age of fifteen. The inadequacy of the police's firepower led to criticism in the press, and on 12 January 1911 several alternative weapons were tested. The trials resulted in the Metropolitan Police replacing the Webley revolver with the Webley & Scott .32 calibre MP semi-automatic pistol later that year; the City of London Police adopted the weapon in 1912. The members of

6498-606: Is likely that as well as Gardstein, Fritz Svaars and William Sokoloff—the two gunmen who died in the Sidney Street siege—were present, along with Max Smoller and Nina Vassileva. Bernard Porter, writing in the Dictionary of National Biography , considers that Peter the Painter was not at the property that night. Donald Rumbelow, a former policeman who wrote a history of the events, takes a different view. He considers that those present consisted of Gardstein, Smoller, Peters and Dubof, with

6669-1424: Is the name that East Enders associate with the siege and Sidney Street." In December 2010, on the centenary of the events at Houndsditch, a memorial plaque for the three murdered policemen was unveiled near the location. Three weeks later, on the anniversary of the siege, a plaque was unveiled in honour of Pearson, the fireman who died because the building collapsed on him. 51°31′06″N 00°03′19″W  /  51.51833°N 0.05528°W  / 51.51833; -0.05528 Shootout Shootouts often pit law enforcement against criminals , though they can also involve groups outside of law enforcement, such as rivalling gangs , militias , or individuals. Military combat situations are rarely titled "shootouts", and are almost always considered battles , engagements , skirmishes , exchanges, or firefights. Shootouts are often depicted in action films , Westerns , and video games . On October 26, 1881, Deputy U.S. Marshal and Tombstone City Marshal Virgil Earp , Assistant Marshal Morgan Earp , and Special Police Officers Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday , faced off against outlaw Cowboys Ike Clanton , Billy Clanton , Billy Claiborne , Tom McLaury , and Frank McLaury in Tombstone , Arizona Territory . On December 1, 1884, lawman Elfego Baca ignited an intense shootout with 40–80 cowboys, depending on

6840-551: The Commissioner of Police , and Herbert Samuel , Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department . The cortège passed along a two-and-a-half mile (four km) route lined by 2,000 police officers and a large crowd, estimated at up to 500,000. The lengthy procession included white-plumed horses drawing Joscelyne's coffin and black-plumed horses drawing Tyler's; each was draped with a Union Jack . They were escorted by policemen,

7011-532: The East End of London ; the concentration of Jews in some areas of London was almost 100 per cent of the population. Because of the influx of Russians into one part of Tottenham in North London , the area gained the nickname Little Russia . Some of the expatriates were revolutionaries, and many were unable to adapt to life in London. The social historian William J. Fishman writes that "the meschuggena (crazy) Anarchists were almost accepted as part of

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7182-543: The Leader of the Opposition , Arthur Balfour , remarked, "He [Churchill] was, I understand, in military phrase, in what is known as the zone of fire—he and a photographer were both risking valuable lives. I understand what the photographer was doing, but what was the right hon. Gentleman doing? That I neither understood at the time, nor do I understand now." Jenkins suggests that he went simply because "he could not resist going to see

7353-746: The Liberal Home Secretary defended the Asquith government 's record on immigration, citing the number of foreign dissidents who had been expelled from Britain for criminal activity. The popular press reported the case extensively, and some newspapers, particularly The Daily Mail , focused on attacking the Aliens Act 1905, blaming it for being too open and making it too easy to enter the country. The French anarchist newspaper Le Retif called Helfeld and Lepidus "our audacious comrades" who came "under attack" from what they called "citizens, believers in

7524-550: The Los Angeles Police Department . The ensuing firefight lasted 44 minutes, with more than 2000 rounds fired collectively from both sides. The only deaths were the two bank robbers, Phillips and Mătăsăreanu. Twelve police officers and eight civilians were injured. On April 20, 1999, school shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold exchanged fire with Denver Police Department officers three times. Although 12 students and one teacher died, 21 others were injured and both

7695-669: The Nazi Party , which Hitler belonged to, attempted to launch a coup in Munich , Weimar Republic . The resulting shootout between Bavarian Police and Nazi supporters left twenty people dead and many injured. In the early hours of 25 June 1943, tensions between black troops and white military police of the United States Army stationed in Bamber Bridge , Lancashire , England , flared into mutiny, with both sides shooting at each other in

7866-538: The Old National Bank branch in Downtown Louisville, Kentucky . The gunman, 25-year old Connor Sturgeon was an employee at the bank, was armed with an AR-15 style rifle, and was shooting at anybody he saw. He had set up an Ambush position to target police officers, In total, 6 people died; 5 employees and the shooter who was killed by police. On November 9, 1923, Adolf Hitler and at least 2,000 members of

8037-578: The Special Tactics Group (STG) surrounded the house where shooter David Malcolm Gray was hiding and a gunbattle took place after failed attempts to lure him out. At the end, Gray ran out of the house, firing his rifle from the hip before being shot by STG officers. On November 16, 1991, Additional Commissioner of Police Aftab Ahmed Khan , head of the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), led a force of almost 100 police and ATS officers and attacked

8208-515: The Symbionese Liberation Army at a residential home at 1466 East 54th Street, Los Angeles. This remains one of the largest police shootouts in history with a reported total of over 9,000 rounds being fired (5,000 by police, 4,000 by the SLA). Every round fired by SLA members at the police missed the officers. During the incident, police fired tear gas into the house, unintentionally starting

8379-532: The Weather Underground and Black Liberation Army resulted in a shootout and the deaths of two police officers and a Brinks security guard in Nyack, New York . The robbers, wearing body armor and equipped with assault rifles, initially ambushed the armored truck when it was parked at a shopping mall, killing Brinks guard Pete Paige and wounding his partner. After taking $ 1.6 million in cash and attempting to flee in

8550-626: The 19th century the Russian Empire , then including Latvia , was home to about five million Jews , the largest Jewish community in the world at the time. Subjected to religious persecution and violent pogroms , many emigrated, and between 1875 and 1914 around 120,000 arrived in the United Kingdom, mostly in England . The influx reached its peak in the late 1890s when large numbers of Jewish immigrants—mostly poor and semi-skilled or unskilled—settled in

8721-479: The Act "gave official sanction to xenophobic reflexes which might ... have remained dormant". Paul Helfeld (also given as Hefeld), aged 21 in 1909, and Jacob Lepidus (also reported as Lapidus), who was 25 the same year, were Jewish-Latvian immigrants. They had been members of a Latvian socialist party and, although they had not held positions of responsibility, they had smuggled revolutionary literature into Russia for

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8892-653: The Act "gave official sanction to xenophobic reflexes which might ... have remained dormant". By 1910 Russian émigrés met regularly at the Anarchist Club in Jubilee Street, Stepney . Many of its members were not anarchists, and the club became a meeting and social venue for the Russian émigré diaspora , most of whom were Jewish. The small group of Latvians who became involved in the events at Houndsditch and Sidney Street were not all anarchists—although anarchist literature

9063-551: The Aliens (Prevention of Crime) Bill under the Ten Minute Rule . The MP Josiah C Wedgwood objected, and wrote to Churchill to ask him not to introduce the hard-line measures "You know as well as I do that human life does not matter a rap in comparison with the death of ideas and the betrayal of English traditions." The bill did not become law. Bryant and Woodhams were presented with the King's Police Medal for their bravery; Woodhams

9234-416: The City of London and Metropolitan forces cordoned off the area around 100 Sidney Street. Armed officers were placed at number 111, directly opposite number 100, and throughout the night the residents of the houses on the block were roused and evacuated. Wensley woke the ground floor tenants at number 100 and asked them to fetch Gershon, claiming that she was needed by her sick husband. When Gershon appeared she

9405-581: The East End landscape"; the terms " socialist " and " anarchist " had been conflated by the British press to refer generally to those with revolutionary beliefs. Several revolutionary factions were active in East and North London. One tactic often employed by revolutionaries in Russia was the expropriation of private property to fund radical activities. The influx of émigrés, and the associated rising rates of violent crime, led to widespread concerns and press coverage. As

9576-434: The East End, spreading details of those they were looking for. A local landlord, Isaac Gordon, reported one of his lodgers, Nina Vassileva, after she had told him she had been one of the people living at Exchange Buildings. Wensley questioned the woman, finding anarchist publications in her rooms, along with a photograph of Gardstein. Information began to come in from the public and the group's associates: on 18 December Federoff

9747-470: The Engineers. I was not consulted as to whether they should be sent for. Shooting between the two sides reached a peak between 12:00 and 12:30   pm, but at 12:50 smoke was seen coming from the building's chimneys and from the second floor windows; it has not been established how the fire was started, whether by accident or design. The fire slowly spread, and by 1:30 it had taken a firm hold and had spread to

9918-520: The FBI agents outnumbered the suspects four to one, the agents were outgunned by the suspects. It took a total of 18 hits (six on Matix, 12 on Platt) to bring the gun battle to an end. All but one of the FBI agents involved in the shootout were killed or wounded. In a 11-day siege in August 1992, agents of the ATF , FBI , and U.S. Marshals armed engaged in a shootout with survivalist Randy Weaver and his family in

10089-537: The Jew". He was wanted in his native Crimea for several jewel robberies. Three women members of the gang, or associates of members of the gang, were among those who faced charges arising from the Houndsditch robbery attempt: Nina Vassileva—who was convicted of a minor offence but was cleared on appeal—Luba Milstein and Rosa Trassjonsky. Following the Metropolitan Police Act 1829 and the City of London Police Act 1839,

10260-567: The London Hospital, but he refused; with no other course open to him, the doctor sold them pain medication and left. The Russian was dead by 9:00 that morning. The doctor returned at 11:00   am and found the body. He had not heard of the events at Exchange Buildings the night before, and so reported the death to the coroner, not the police. At midday the coroner reported the death to the local police who, led by Divisional Detective Inspector Frederick Wensley , went to Grove Street and discovered

10431-404: The Metropolitan force, as their protocol demanded, and both services issued revolvers to the detectives involved in the search. The subsequent investigation was challenging for the police because of the cultural differences between the British police and the largely foreign residents of the area covered by the search. The police did not have any Russian, Latvian or Yiddish speakers on the force. In

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10602-665: The Metropolitan force. Both services came under the political control of the Home Secretary , who in 1911 was the 36-year-old rising politician Winston Churchill . While on the beat, or in the course of their normal duties, the officers of the City of London and Metropolitan forces were provided with a short wooden truncheon for protection. When they faced armed opponents—as was the case in Sidney Street—the police were issued with Webley and Bull Dog revolvers, shotguns and small-bore rifles fitted with .22 Morris-tube barrels ,

10773-457: The Painter , one of the minor members of the gang who was probably not present at either Houndsditch or Sidney Street. The murdered policemen and the fireman who died are commemorated with memorial plaques. In the 19th century, the Russian Empire was home to about five million Jews , the largest Jewish community at the time. Subjected to religious persecution and violent pogroms , many emigrated and between 1875 and 1914 around 120,000 arrived in

10944-480: The Painter was only involved in a minor capacity in the events and was not present at the siege. The name plaques on the buildings call Peter the Painter an " anti-hero "; the decision angered the Metropolitan Police Federation . A council spokesman said that "There is no evidence that Peter the Painter killed the three policemen, so we knew we were not naming the block after a murderer. ... but he

11115-642: The State and authority". The perception of immigrants was affected by the outrage and, according to the Metropolitan Police Service , it "provoked some misplaced public anti-Semitism", which affected public opinion two years later in the siege of Sidney Street. In December 1909, during the events that led to the siege, a leading article in The Times described the Whitechapel area as one that: harbours some of

11286-584: The Swati building at the Lokhandwala Complex in Bombay , India . In the ensuing four-hour shootout, 450 rounds were fired and seven D-Company gangsters were killed, including Maya Dolas , Dilip Buwa , and Anil Pawar. On March 3, 2005, James Roszko ambushed and killed Royal Canadian Mounted Police constables Peter Schiemann, Anthony Gordon, Lionide Johnston and Brock Myrol with a prohibited HK-91 rifle during

11457-402: The United Kingdom, mostly in England . The influx reached its peak in the late 1890s when large numbers of Jewish immigrants—mostly poor and semi-skilled or unskilled—settled in the East End of London . The concentration of Jewish immigrants into some areas was almost 100 per cent of the population, and a study undertaken in 1900 showed that Houndsditch and Whitechapel were both identified as

11628-830: The United States. The siege was the inspiration for the final scene in Alfred Hitchcock 's original 1934 version of The Man Who Knew Too Much ; the story was heavily fictionalised in the 1960 film The Siege of Sidney Street . The novelist Georges Simenon drew on the story for his 1930 Maigret detective novel Pietr-le-Letton ( Pietr the Latvian ). The siege was also the inspiration for two other novels, The Siege of Sidney Street (1960) by F Oughton and A Death Out of Season (1973) by Emanuel Litvinoff . In September 2008 Tower Hamlets London Borough Council named two tower blocks in Sidney Street, Peter House and Painter House; Peter

11799-402: The Walthamstow inquest described Lepidus as a "secret revolutionary agent", and said that the law would have to change to stop such criminal elements entering Britain. Although Constable Eagles believed he had fired the shot that killed Lepidus, the round extracted from the dead man's head indicated otherwise. The jury passed a verdict of suicide. The inquest at Tottenham heard evidence through

11970-443: The act was a pre-emptive one, designed to scare the locals into not informing on the anarchists. The police believed that the Clapham Common murder was not connected to the Houndsditch police murders. The posters of Gardstein proved effective, and late on New Year's Day a member of the public came forward to provide information about Svaars and Sokoloff. The informant told police that the men were hiding at 100 Sidney Street, along with

12141-458: The aliases Garstin, Poloski, Poolka, Morountzeff, Mourimitz, Maurivitz, Milowitz, Morintz, Morin and Levi. Gardstein, who probably was an anarchist, had been accused of murder and acts of terrorism in Warsaw in 1905 before his arrival in London. Another member of the group, Jacob (or Yakov) Peters , had been an agitator in Russia while in the army and later as a dockyard worker. He had served a term in prison for his activities and had been tortured by

12312-576: The area. The Tottenham Outrage of January 1909, by two revolutionary Russians in London—Paul Helfeld and Jacob Lepidus—was an attempt to rob a payroll van, which left two dead and twenty injured. The event used a tactic often employed by revolutionary groups in Russia: the expropriation or theft of private property to fund radical activities. The influx of émigrés and the increase of violent crime associated with it, led to popular concerns and comments in

12483-413: The back door opened and one of the gang exited, firing from a pistol as he did so; the man on the stairs also began firing. Bentley was shot in the shoulder and the neck—the second round severing his spine. Bryant was shot in the arm and chest and Woodhams was wounded in the leg, which broke his femur; both collapsed. Although they survived, neither Bryant or Woodhams fully recovered from their injuries. As

12654-509: The bag of money—to open the gates; as it started to pull off, Lepidus grabbed the boy and tried to take the bag from him, but Keyworth held him off. Wilson stopped the car and came to Keyworth's assistance. As the trio wrestled, Wilson fell to the ground and Lepidus managed to take the bag. Helfeld joined the fight; he drew his gun—a .32 calibre Browning —and fired several times at Wilson. The shots hit Wilson's coat; one pierced his clothes and cut across his abdomen. The police report stated that it

12825-610: The body of Hester beaten to death. On July 18, 1984, the San Diego Police Department responded to 911 calls about an Active Shooter at a McDonald's restaurant in San Ysidro, San Diego , they were accidentally given the wrong location and it took ten minutes to finally get to the right location. The shooter 41-year old James Huberty exchanged fire with the arriving police cars, fire trucks, and SWAT teams, in total 23 people died; 17 customers, 1 unborn baby, 4 employees, and

12996-425: The building, the firemen resumed their search; at around 6:30   pm the second body—that of Svaars—was found. The siege was captured by Pathé News cameras—one of their earliest stories and the first siege to be captured on film—and it included footage of Churchill. When the newsreels were screened in cinemas, Churchill was booed with shouts of "shoot him" from audiences. His presence was controversial to many and

13167-421: The canal at Stonebridge Lock , then crossed another bridge and again held off the chasing crowd from the bridge's parapet. One policeman, PC Nicod, borrowed a pistol from a bystander and made his way through the scrub until he was close enough to fire, but the gun was faulty; he was seen by Helfeld and Lepidus, who fired on him, wounding him in the calf and thigh. Helfeld and Lepidus continued their flight along

13338-513: The capital was policed by two forces, the Metropolitan Police , who held sway over most of the capital, and the City of London Police , who were responsible for law enforcement within the historic City boundaries . The events in Houndsditch in December 1910 fell into the purview of the City of London service, and the subsequent actions at Sidney Street in January 1911 were in the jurisdiction of

13509-485: The chase, the motivation for the crime was never established. On 23 January 1909 Helfeld and Lepidus waited outside the Schnurmann factory. At the same time every week Schnurmann's chauffeur, Joseph Wilson, drove to a bank in nearby Hackney with Albert Keyworth, a 17-year-old office boy. They collected the week's wages—on the 23rd it was £80 in gold, silver and coppers —and returned to the factory, arriving at about 10:30 am. The car stopped to allow Keyworth—holding

13680-399: The collarbone and one missed altogether. As the two gunmen ran down the street, other members of the public joined the chase, as did several off-duty policemen from the station— none carrying firearms —some on foot, but some having commandeered bicycles from passers-by. One policeman was able to return fire with a pistol borrowed from a member of the public. The car from the factory joined in

13851-424: The company, so he was listed on the time sheets as "Elephant" in reference to his bulk. Situated on the corner of Tottenham High Road and Chesnut Road, the factory sat opposite Tottenham Police Station, which was under the control of the Metropolitan Police . Special Branch suspected another individual, the Russian revolutionary Christian Salnish, of having organised the robbery. Salnish, who often went under

14022-414: The conductor with a pistol and ordered him to drive; although he had never driven a tram before, he managed to get the vehicle moving. Lepidus stayed with his pistol trained on the conductor, while Helfeld shot at the pursuers behind them. One policeman commandeered a pony and cart; he was armed and tried to get close enough to manage an aimed shot, but Helfeld shot the horse and the cart overturned. A tram on

14193-402: The corpse. Trassjonsky was in the next room when they entered, and she was soon found by the police, hastily burning papers; she was arrested and taken to the police headquarters at Old Jewry . Many of the papers recovered linked the suspects to the East End, particularly to the anarchist groups active in the area. Wensley, who had extensive knowledge of the Whitechapel area, subsequently acted as

14364-514: The country and lived in Scotland for a year, before moving to Tottenham. Both men joined a small group of Latvian agitators living in north London; according to other members of the group, the pair had criminal records and had joined as a cover for the robberies they carried out. Lepidus was employed, briefly, at a furniture factory, while Helfeld took a job at the Schnurmann rubber factory in Tottenham. Helfeld refused to give his name when he joined

14535-496: The courthouse into a waiting getaway van. As they attempted to flee the scene, a shootout broke out between the hostage takers and Marin County Sheriffs deputies providing security at the courthouse. By the end of the gun battle, Jonathan Jackson, McClain, Christmas, and judge Harold Haley were killed. According to the other hostages, Haley was executed by the hostage takers with a shotgun that had been taped to his throat. Magee

14706-482: The crowd from the bridge. Men who had been duck shooting on the marshes used their shotguns to return fire and when the two criminals moved on from the bridge, local footballers joined in the chase. Helfeld and Lepidus ran along the western bank of the Lee Navigation canal; local workmen followed on the opposite bank in an attempt to cut them off, but several were wounded when the two men fired at them. The pair crossed

14877-507: The crowd were unwelcoming to him, as he heard people asking "Oo let 'em in?", in reference to the Liberal Party's immigration policy that had allowed the influx from Russia. Churchill's role during the siege is unclear. His biographers, Paul Addison and Roy Jenkins , both consider that he gave no operational commands to the police, but a Metropolitan police history of the event states that the events of Sidney Street were "a very rare case of

15048-403: The day and adjourned until the following week. When the verdict was given, it was for the wilful murder of PC Tyler by Helfeld, for which the coroner used the authority of his court to commit the Latvian to trial. Joscelyne's death, the jury decided, had been caused by Helfeld and Lepidus together. Joscelyne and Tyler's joint funeral was held on 29 January 1909, attended by Sir Edward Henry ,

15219-464: The defendants having a low standard of English, interpreters were used throughout the proceedings. At the end of the day the case was adjourned until 6 January 1911. On New Year's Day 1911 the body of Léon Beron, a Russian Jewish immigrant, was found on Clapham Common in South London. He had been badly beaten and two S-shaped cuts, both two inches long, were on his cheeks. The case became connected in

15390-404: The early hours of the morning of 17 December Milstein and Trassjonsky became increasingly concerned as Gardstein's condition worsened, and they sent for a local doctor, explaining that their patient had been wounded accidentally by a friend. The doctor thought the bullet was still in the chest—it was later found to be touching the right ventricle of the heart. The doctor wanted to take Gardstein to

15561-465: The end of the pursuit. Helfeld and Lepidus were members of a Latvian socialist party responsible for smuggling revolutionary literature into Russia. Both had been living with Lepidus's brother Paul in Paris in 1907 when Paul was killed by the premature detonation of the bomb he was carrying to assassinate the president of France, Armand Fallières . They fled France to north London, where they became members of

15732-484: The events at Tottenham, Sir Edward Henry set up a board to examine compensation claims made by members of the public. The board was also instructed to examine whether the firearm used by the police—the .450 Webley Revolver —was suitable, and whether sufficient numbers had been issued. The recommendation was that the Webley should be replaced by the Colt Automatic pistol , although no change was made. A subsequent decision

15903-538: The fallen officers were left bleeding nearby, their colleagues unable to reach them. More than 100 rounds were fired by the SWAT teams and Poplawski, who surrendered after suffering a gunshot wound to the leg. Poplawski was later convicted of capital murder and was sentenced to death. On Sunday, November 29, 2009, four Lakewood, Washington police officers (Sergeant Mark Renninger, Officer Ronald Owens, 37, Officer Tina Griswold, 40, Officer Greg Richards, 42) were shot and killed at

16074-520: The fire brigade was allowed to start extinguishing the fire. At 2:40 Churchill left the scene, at about the time the Royal Horse Artillery arrived with two 13-pounder field artillery pieces. Sokoloff's body was found soon after the firemen entered. A wall collapsed on a group of five firemen, who were all taken to the London Hospital. One of the men, Superintendent Charles Pearson, had a fractured spine; he died six months later. After shoring up

16245-502: The first calls to 911 were placed, officers had already shot and killed Aiden Hale in the second floor of the school. In total, 7 people died; 3 students, all 9 years old, as well as a custodian, a substitute teacher, and the head of the school, and the shooter were killed in the attack. On April 10, 2023, officers from the Louisville Metro Police Department responded to multiple 911 calls about an Active Shooter at

16416-563: The four remaining arrested gang members was heard at the Old Bailey by Mr Justice Grantham in May. Dubof and Peters were accused of Tucker's murder, Dubof, Peters, Rosen and Vassilleva were charged with "feloniously harbouring a felon guilty of murder" and for "conspiring and agreeing together and with others unknown to break and enter the shop of Henry Samuel Harris with intent to steal his goods". The case lasted for eleven days; there were problems with

16587-454: The fun himself". An inquest was held in January into the deaths at Houndsditch and Sidney Street. The jury took fifteen minutes to reach the conclusion that the two bodies located were those of Svaars and Sokoloff, that Tucker, Bentley and Choate had been murdered by Gardstein and others during the burglary attempt. Rosen was arrested on 2 February at work in Well Street, Hackney , and Hoffman

16758-468: The game's up". Helfeld took aim and shot him; the bullet went through his head. The two criminals took off again, while Tyler was carried to a nearby house and an ambulance summoned. He was taken to Tottenham Hospital, where he died five minutes after arrival. Helfeld and Lepidus crossed the nearby railway line and followed the west bank of the River Lea until they crossed over; they were able to hold off

16929-419: The gang exited the property and made to escape up the cul-de-sac, other police intervened. Sergeant Charles Tucker from Bishopsgate police station was hit twice, once in the hip and once in the heart by Peters: he died instantly. Choate grabbed Gardstein and wrestled for his gun, but the Russian managed to shoot him in the leg. Other members of the gang ran to Gardstein's assistance, shooting Choate twelve times in

17100-555: The group dispersed after the events. Peter the Painter was never seen or heard from again. It was assumed he left the country, and there were several possible sightings in the years afterwards; none were confirmed. Jacob Peters returned to Russia, rose to be deputy head of the Cheka , the Soviet secret police, and was executed in Joseph Stalin 's 1938 purge . Trassjonsky had a mental breakdown and

17271-500: The group leaving Exchange Buildings, identified Peters and Dubof as the two he had seen carrying Gardstein. It was also ascertained that Federoff had been witnessed at the events. The following day Federoff, Peters and Dubof all appeared at the Guildhall police court where they were charged with being connected to the murder of the three policemen, and with conspiracy to burgle the jewellery shop. All three pleaded not guilty. On 27 December

17442-400: The group's members was Karl Hoffman—whose real name was Alfred Dzircol—who had been involved in revolutionary and criminal activities for several years, including gun-running. In London he had worked as a decorator. John Rosen—real name John Zelin or Tzelin—came to London in 1909 from Riga and worked as a barber, while another member of the gang was Max Smoller, also known as Joe Levi and "Josepf

17613-544: The headquarters of the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) inside the Washington Navy Yard in southeast Washington, D.C. , gunman Aaron Alexis exchanged gunfire with police and security guards. After injuring a police officer, Alexis was shot in the head by the injured policeman, and was pronounced dead more than two hours later. On May 17, 2015, in one of the deadliest gang shootings in American history,

17784-407: The last of which were more commonly used on small indoor shooting galleries. At the beginning of December 1910 Smoller, using the name Joe Levi, visited Exchange Buildings, a small cul-de-sac that backed onto the properties of Houndsditch. He rented No. 11 Exchange Buildings; a week later Svaars rented number 9 for a month, saying he needed it for storage. The gang were unable to rent number 10, which

17955-494: The level of his operational involvement. At the trial in May 1911 of those arrested for the Houndsditch jewellery robbery, all but one of the accused were acquitted; the conviction was overturned on appeal. The events were fictionalised in film—in The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) and The Siege of Sidney Street (1960)—and novels. On the centenary of the events two tower blocks in Sidney Street were named after Peter

18126-418: The men tried to take a corner too fast, and they threatened a grocer's boy before stealing his delivery cart; Lepidus drove while Helfeld sat at the back, shooting at pursuers. A policeman commandeered a car and he, with an armed colleague, kept up pursuit. The cart did not travel very fast because, unbeknown to Lepidus, its brake was still on, and one of the wheels was not operating. The horse was soon spent, and

18297-604: The middle of the town. The " Battle of Bamber Bridge " was one of the few instances of a gun battle in the United Kingdom during World War II, and left one dead and four wounded. On 2 September ( Father's Day in Australia) 1984, rival motorcycle gang members engaged in a firearm battle in Milperra , a south-western suburb of Sydney , New South Wales , Australia . The shootout had its roots in an intense rivalry that developed after

18468-578: The military being deployed in London. A further review after the Sidney Street murders resulted in the Metropolitan Police replacing the Webley revolver with the Webley & Scott .32 calibre MP semi-automatic pistol in 1911; the City of London Police adopted the same weapon in 1912. The events of the Tottenham Outrage were re-enacted in Doctor Brian Pellie and the Secret Despatch (1912),

18639-468: The morning of 3 January a firefight broke out. Armed with inferior weapons, the police sought assistance from the army . The siege lasted for about six hours. Towards the end of the stand-off, the building caught fire; no single cause has been identified. One of the agitators in the building was shot before the fire spread. While the London Fire Brigade were damping down the ruins—in which they found

18810-542: The murder of three policemen, the wounding of two others, and the death of George Gardstein, a key member of the Latvian gang. An investigation by the Metropolitan and City of London Police forces identified Gardstein's accomplices, most of whom were arrested within two weeks. The police were informed that the last two members of the gang were hiding at 100 Sidney Street in Stepney . The police evacuated local residents, and on

18981-523: The name Jacob Fogel, had been an active revolutionary since the age of 13. He participated in the 1905 Russian Revolution and afterwards helped to build resistance groups in Saint Petersburg —then the capital of Imperial Russia —and the area now covered by the Baltic states . Special Branch suspected a political element to the crime based on Salnish's involvement, but as both Helfeld and Lepidus died during

19152-401: The nearby Bishopsgate Police Station to report. By 11:30 seven uniformed and two plain clothes policemen had gathered in the locality, each armed with his wooden truncheon. Sergeant Robert Bentley from Bishopsgate police station knocked at number 11, unaware that Piper had already done so, which alerted the gang. The door was answered by Gardstein, who made no response when Bentley asked if anyone

19323-457: The noise, which he thought was unusual enough to investigate further. At 11:00 he knocked at the door of 11 Exchange Buildings—the only property with a light on in the back. The door was opened in a furtive manner and Piper became suspicious immediately. So as not to rouse the man's concerns, Piper asked him "is the missus in?" The man answered in broken English that she was out, and the policeman said he would return later. Piper reported that as he

19494-713: The officers, forcing them to retreat. One hour and 13 minutes later, members of the United States Border Patrol Tactical Unit unlocked the door with a janitor's master key that Ramos had locked and entered the classroom, killing him. On March 27, 2023, officers from the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department responded to a 911 call about an active shooter situation at the Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee. The shooter,

19665-407: The other floors. A second detachment of Scots Guards arrived, bringing with them a Maxim machine gun , which was never used. Horse-drawn artillery field guns were also brought from St John's Wood barracks, but again not used. Shortly afterwards Sokoloff put his head out of the window; he was shot by one of the soldiers and he fell back inside. The senior officer of the London Fire Brigade present on

19836-563: The party. The pair had been living in Paris in 1907, along with Lepidus's brother Vladimir  [ ru ] , a revolutionary bomber who went under the nom de guerre "Striga"; Jacob was described in The Times as a "member of a notorious Russian revolutionary family". On 1 May 1907 Paul Lepidus was killed when a bomb he was carrying to assassinate Armand Fallières , the President of France, exploded prematurely. Lepidus and Helfeld fled

20007-487: The police closed in, he put the gun to his head and shot himself. The bullet entered the head half an inch above the right eye and exited through the forehead on the other side. He was disarmed before he could fire again, and was struggling as he was overpowered; he was taken to Tottenham Hospital. Lepidus continued his flight into Hale End , Walthamstow . He crossed the nearby railway line and took refuge in Oak Cottage,

20178-482: The police were pinned down until one officer arrived with an AR-15 carbine. After the police engaged the suspects with the AR-15, the suspects fled. One of the suspects was killed in the shootout, one during a later standoff with the police the next day, and three were later captured. Eight officers were also wounded during the events. On October 20, 1981, an attempted armed robbery of a Brinks armored truck by members of

20349-420: The poster bearing Gardstein's picture was seen by his landlord, who alerted police. Wensley and his colleagues visited the lodgings on Gold Street, Stepney and found knives, a gun, ammunition, false passports and revolutionary publications. Two days later there was another hearing at the Guildhall police court. In addition to Federoff, Peters and Dubof, present in the dock were Milstein and Trassjonsky. With some of

20520-411: The press with the Houndsditch murders and the subsequent events at Sidney Street, although the evidence at the time for the link was scant. The historian F G Clarke, in his history of the events, located information from another Latvian who stated that Beron had been killed not because he was one of the informers who had passed on information, but because he was planning to pass the information on, and

20691-497: The press. The government passed the Aliens Act 1905 in an attempt to reduce immigration. The popular press reflected the opinions of many at the time; a leading article in The Manchester Evening Chronicle supported the bill to bar "the dirty, destitute, diseased, verminous and criminal foreigner who dumps himself on our soil". The journalist Robert Winder , in his examination of migration into Britain, opines that

20862-414: The proceedings because of the language difficulties and the chaotic personal lives of the accused. The case resulted in acquittals for all except Vassileva, who was convicted of conspiracy in the burglary and sentenced to two years' imprisonment; her conviction was overturned on appeal. After the high levels of criticism aimed at the Aliens Act , Churchill decided to strengthen the legislation, and proposed

21033-410: The process, but Gardstein was also wounded; as the policeman collapsed, Gardstein was carried away by his accomplices, who included Peters. As these men, aided by an unknown woman, made their escape with Gardstein they were accosted by Isaac Levy, a passer-by, whom they threatened at pistol-point. He was the only witness to the escape who was able to provide firm details; other witnesses confirmed they saw

21204-423: The pursuit, driven by Wilson; he paused and PC Newman boarded the car before they gave chase again. Tyler ran alongside the car. As the car approached them, the two criminals turned and opened fire. One round broke the car's water pipe, disabling it, and Wilson received a minor wound to the neck; Newman's cheek and ear were damaged by one shot. Members of the public attempted to take cover, but one—Ralph Joscelyne,

21375-474: The rank of sergeant without the need for the usual examination; Nicod and Dewhurst were the others who rose in rank. Two others were raised to the highest level of their pay grades. Seven were granted financial awards from the Bow Street Court Reward Fund. In November 1909 a monument to PC Tyler was built at his grave; the £200 cost was paid by members of the Metropolitan Police. The memorial

21546-477: The removal of his fingernails. Yourka Dubof was another Russian agitator who had fled to England after being flogged by Cossacks . Fritz Svaars ( Fricis Svars ) was a Latvian who had been arrested by the Russian authorities three times for terrorist offences, but escaped each time. He had travelled through the United States, where he undertook a series of robberies, before arriving in London in June 1910. Another member

21717-451: The return journey from that of number 9 was commandeered by a policeman; 40 others boarded it and it reversed down the track in pursuit. The conductor, wanting to get rid of the two men, told them that there was a police station around the next corner. The two criminals jumped off the tram near a horse-drawn milk float , shooting the driver and stealing his vehicle. They fled in the direction of Epping Forest . The milk cart overturned when

21888-463: The scene sought permission to extinguish the blaze, but was refused. He approached Churchill in order to have the decision overturned, but the Home Secretary approved the police decision. Churchill later wrote: I now intervened to settle this dispute, at one moment quite heated. I told the fire-brigade officer on my authority as Home Secretary that the house was to be allowed to burn down and that he

22059-421: The shoes her son had been wearing on the day he was killed. Following her wishes, they were buried with her when she died in 1953. A collection was taken for PC Tyler's widow, which raised £1,055; she was only paid the interest, in addition to her widow's pension of £15 a year. She later married PC Williams, who had taken part in the chase; he died in 1925. On her death, the capital sum of the money raised for her

22230-491: The shooter was killed by a SWAT sniper. On May 13, 1985, the Philadelphia Police Department engaged in a shootout with the anarcho-primitivist group MOVE , after a failed attempt to serve arrest warrants on four members of the group at their communal residence. About 10,000 rounds of ammunition were fired by the police. The police eventually dropped two bombs on the house from a police helicopter , starting

22401-479: The shooters committed suicide, no officers were killed or injured. On February 24, 2005, David Hernandez Arroyo attacked his ex-wife, Maribel Estrada, and her son outside the courthouse in Tyler, Texas . Arroyo was armed with a semi-automatic MAK-90 (an AK-47 clone with a semi-automatic receiver) rifle. Maribel Estrada was shot in the head and died; her son was shot in the leg but recovered. The shots immediately brought

22572-574: The shootings of black men Alton Sterling and Philando Castile by police in Louisiana and Minnesota , Micah Xavier Johnson opened fire on white police officers of the Dallas Police Department from an upper floor of a parking garage whilst they were overseeing a protest. Johnson was killed by a Remotec ANDROS Mark V-A bomb disposal robot , which carried a pound of C-4 explosive . On July 11, 2016, inmate Larry Darnell Gordon opened fire on

22743-452: The small yard behind 11 Exchange Buildings, the gang began to break through the back wall of the shop; number 10 had been unoccupied since 12 December. At around 10:00 that evening, returning to his home at 120 Houndsditch, Max Weil heard curious noises coming from his neighbour's property. Outside his house Weil found Police Constable Piper on his beat and informed him of the noises. Piper checked at 118 and 121 Houndsditch, where he could hear

22914-551: The source, in Frisco (now Reserve ), New Mexico . On May 19, 1920, private agents from the Baldwin–Felts Detective Agency battled with the local sheriff, the town's mayor, and a group of coal miners , over an attempt by Baldwin-Felts agents to evict coal miners from their homes during a strike. On June 17, 1933, in an attempt to free their friend, a criminal gang ambushed seven FBI agents and Kansas City police at

23085-415: The south side of Banbury Reservoir . As they crossed an area of open land, they sheltered behind a haystack and held off the pursuers, who numbered about 20 at this point. The two ran on until they reached Chingford Road, where they boarded a number 9 tram ; many of the passengers escaped, and the driver, who saw the armed men, ran up the front stairs of the vehicle and hid on the top deck. Lepidus threatened

23256-418: The structure of the building, which had a narrow, winding stairwell up which police would have to pass, meant any approach to the gang members was too perilous to attempt. It was decided to wait until dawn before taking any action. At about 7:30   am a policeman knocked on the door of number 100, which elicited no response; stones were then thrown at the window to wake the men. Svaars and Sokoloff appeared at

23427-513: The terms interchangeably to refer to those with revolutionary beliefs. A leading article in The Times described the Whitechapel area as one that "harbours some of the worst alien anarchists and criminals who seek our too hospitable shore. And these are the men who use the pistol and the knife." From the turn of the century, gang warfare persisted in the Whitechapel and Aldgate areas of London between groups of Bessarabians and refugees from Odessa ; various revolutionary factions were active in

23598-636: The third floor of the Berrien County Courthouse in St. Joseph, Michigan , killing two bailiffs and injuring a sheriff's deputy. Gordon, who was facing a multitude of charges that carried a possible life sentence, was being taken to a holding cell following a courthouse hearing when he disarmed an officer and attempted to take hostages. Moments after taking hostages, other court officers shot and killed Gordon. On November 5, 2017, shooter Devin Patrick Kelley

23769-540: The top of the tower at the University of Texas at Austin and proceeded to fire randomly from the tower. He then exchanged fire with Austin Police Department officers and armed civilians. After killing several people, he was killed in a final exchange when his perch was stormed by Austin police. On April 6, 1970, California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers engaged heavily armed criminals Bobby Davis and Jack Twinning in

23940-663: The train station as they were escorting captured fugitive Frank Nash back to prison. The FBI agents were unarmed, but the local police exchanged fire with the criminal gang. The gang unintentionally killed Nash along with the law officers. The FBI claimed that the gang included Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd , but the evidence is debatable and contradicts with Floyd's alleged presence. On November 27, 1934, in Barrington, Illinois , bank robber Lester Gillis /George "Baby Face" Nelson, his wife Helen, and gang member John Chase encountered an FBI car driven by Agents Thomas Dade and William Ryan on

24111-458: The two bodies—the building collapsed, killing a fireman. The siege marked the first time the police had requested military assistance in London to deal with an armed stand-off. It was also the first siege in Britain to be caught on camera, as the events were filmed by Pathé News . Some of the footage included images of the Home Secretary , Winston Churchill . His presence caused a political row over

24282-507: The two gunmen possessed superior weapons and ample ammunition. The police officers in charge on the scene, Superintendent Mulvaney and Chief Superintendent Stark, contacted Assistant Commissioner Major Frederick Wodehouse at Scotland Yard . He telephoned the Home Office and obtained permission from Churchill to bring in a detachment of Scots Guards , who were stationed at the Tower of London . It

24453-477: The two men abandoned it, taking off on foot along the bank of the River Ching . The footpath was bordered by a six-foot (1.8 m)-high fence and, as it continued, it narrowed to the point of being impassable. It was too late for the men to turn back and they decided to climb over; Lepidus managed to make it, but Helfeld, exhausted by the chase, could not manage to climb. He shouted to Lepidus to save himself and, as

24624-475: The wall, where Lepidus had tried to hide up the chimney. Using a double-barrelled shotgun, Dixon shot through the door of the bedroom Lepidus had entered, while Cater and Eagles shot with revolvers. All three entered the room as Lepidus pulled a sheet over his head. Eagles and Dixon both fired as they entered, while Lepidus shot himself in the head. The police dragged him outside, where he died a few minutes later. The incident had lasted over two hours and covered

24795-673: The wilderness near Bonners Ferry, Idaho . On February 28, 1993, heavily armed members of the Branch Davidian sect engaged federal agents of the ATF in an intense firefight during a raid of their compound building, initiating a 51-day siege by the FBI near Waco, Texas . On February 28, 1997, following a failed bank robbery in North Hollywood , Los Angeles , California , the two robbers, Larry Phillips Jr. and Emil Mătăsăreanu, armed with several assault rifles, fired upon responding officers of

24966-406: The window and opened fire at the police. A police sergeant was wounded in the chest; he was evacuated under fire across the rooftops and taken to the London Hospital. Some members of the police returned fire, but their guns were only effective over shorter ranges, and proved ineffective against the comparatively advanced automatic weapons of Svaars and Sokoloff. By 9:00   am it was apparent that

25137-609: The wounded man was the one who had killed Tucker, or to enable him to defend himself against a possible arrest. Other policemen arrived in Houndsditch, and began to attend to the wounded. Tucker's body was put into a taxi and he was taken to the London Hospital (now the Royal London Hospital) in Whitechapel Road . Choate was also taken there, where he was operated on, but he died at 5:30   am on 17 December. Bentley

25308-557: Was "Peter the Painter", a nickname for an man also known as Peter Piaktow (or Piatkov, Pjatkov or Piaktoff); his real name was Janis Zaklis. The police suggested he was the ringleader of the gang, although there is no evidence that he was present at Houndsditch or Sidney Street. William (or Joseph) Sokoloff (or Sokolow) was a Latvian who had lived in Latvia and had been arrested in Riga in 1905 for murder and robbery before travelling to London. Another of

25479-438: Was "in a miraculous and unaccountable way [that] he escaped injury". Two police constables (PCs)—Tyler and Newman—at the nearby police station heard the shots, left the station and chased the two men down Chesnut Road. Part way down the road, George Smith, a passer-by, threw Lepidus to the ground. As they wrestled, Helfeld fired at Smith four times; two shots went through his cap—one of which scraped his scalp—another hit him in

25650-573: Was an armed robbery in Tottenham , North London , that resulted in a two-hour chase between the police and armed criminals over a distance of six miles (10 km), with an estimated 400 rounds of ammunition fired by the thieves. The robbery, of workers' wages from the Schnurmann rubber factory, was carried out by Paul Helfeld and Jacob Lepidus, Jewish Latvian immigrants. Of the twenty-three casualties, two were fatal and several others serious, among them seven policemen. The two thieves killed themselves at

25821-662: Was arrested at home, and on 22 December Dubof and Peters were both captured. On 22 December a public memorial service took place for Tucker, Bentley and Choate at St Paul's Cathedral . King George V was represented by Edward Wallington , his Groom in Waiting ; also present were Churchill and the Lord Mayor of London . The crime had shocked Londoners and the service showed evidence of their feelings. An estimated ten thousand people waited in St Paul's environs, and many local businesses closed as

25992-489: Was carried out on 9 February to remove pieces of bone pressing into the wound; the meningitis worsened and he died on 12 February. Before his death he said the only words he was heard to have uttered in hospital: "My mother is in Riga ." An inquest recorded a verdict of suicide. He was buried in an unconsecrated area of a cemetery near Tottenham Hospital. Ralph Joscelyne's father died soon after his son's murder; Ralph's mother kept

26163-463: Was confined for a time at Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum , where she died in 1971. Dubof and Federoff disappeared from the records; Vassilleva remained in the East End for the remainder of her life and died at Brick Lane in 1963. Hoffman moved to New York where he lived for many years with Luba Milstein, who had given birth to Fritz Svaars child. Smoller left the country in 1911 and travelled to Paris, after which he disappeared; Milstein later emigrated to

26334-425: Was confronted by and traded fire with Stephen Willeford, a local resident and former firearms instructor who was armed with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle. Willeford had taken cover behind a truck across the street from the church and shot Kelley twice, once in the leg and once in the upper left torso under his tactical gear. Kelley, who had dropped his rifle during the initial firefight with Willeford, fired back with

26505-548: Was designated a Grade II listed structure on 24 March 1997 by English Heritage (now Historic England ). A cross was carved into a wall where PC Tyler was shot, and a plaque in his memory was installed at Tottenham police station. A blue plaque in memory of Joscelyne was placed at the Church of the Good Shepherd, Tottenham, and one indicating the end of the chase at the approximate site of Oak Cottage (now destroyed). Following

26676-406: Was directly behind their target, 119 Houndsditch, the jeweller's shop owned by Henry Samuel Harris. The safe in the jeweller's was reputed to contain between £20,000 and £30,000 worth of jewellery; Harris's son later stated the total was only around £7,000. Over the next two weeks the gang brought in various pieces of necessary equipment, including a 60 foot (18 m) length of India rubber gas hose,

26847-406: Was for a British-made firearm, the Webley & Scott .32 calibre MP semi-automatic pistol . These changes had not been implemented by the end of December 1910, when a group of Latvian revolutionaries undertook an attempted break-in at a jewellery shop, which led to the siege of Sidney Street . That event led to the murder of three policemen, the wounding of two others and a gun battle which involved

27018-409: Was grabbed by the police and taken to the City of London police headquarters; the ground floor lodgers also evacuated. Number 100 was now empty of all residents, apart from Svaars and Sokoloff, neither of whom seemed to be aware of the evacuation. The police's operating procedure—and the law which governed their actions—meant they were unable to open fire without being fired upon first. This, along with

27189-672: Was killed on the scene. On May 24, 2022, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos entered Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas armed with Daniel Defense M4 carbine and opened fire on students and teachers in an adjoining classroom. 3 minutes after the shooting began, 6 officers from the Uvalde Police Department and 2 officers from the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District entered the building and exchanged gunfire with Ramos. Ramos shot and injured 2 of

27360-422: Was later found among their possessions. Most members of the group were revolutionaries who had been radicalised by their involvement in the unsuccessful 1905 revolution in Latvia and its violent suppression. All had left-wing political views and believed the expropriation of private property was a valid practice. A leading figure in the group was George Gardstein, whose real name was probably Hartmanis; he also used

27531-477: Was leaving Exchange Buildings to return to Houndsditch he saw a man acting suspiciously in the shadows of the cul-de-sac. As the policeman approached him, the man walked away; Piper later described him as being approximately 5 feet 7 inches (1.70 m), pale and fair-haired. When Piper reached Houndsditch he saw two policemen from the adjoining beats—constables Woodhams and Walter Choate—who watched 120 Houndsditch and 11 Exchange Buildings while Piper went to

27702-411: Was made in 1986. On January 11, 1983, Memphis Police Department Officer Bobby Hester was taken hostage at a house at 2239 Shannon Street after a confrontation occurred between Hester, his partner Ray Schwill, and the house's owner, cult leader Lindberg Sanders. After 30 hours of negotiations, a Memphis Police assault team raided the house, killing Sanders and six of his followers, after which they found

27873-445: Was paid to the Metropolitan and City of London Police orphanage fund. The King's Police Medal was established by a Royal Warrant , dated 7 July 1909, to recognise the bravery of the officers who had pursued Lepidus and Helfeld. Eagles, Cater and Dixon, the three officers who broke into Oak Cottage to apprehend Lepidus, were among the first recipients announced on 9 November 1909. The three were also among five officers promoted to

28044-436: Was severely injured, but survived the battle and was sentenced to life in prison. One juror and the D.A., Gary W. Thomas , were also wounded. One of the weapons used by Jackson was later traced to Black Panther icon Angela Davis , who was tried (but acquitted) for participation in the crime. On May 17, 1974, a confrontation and gun battle occurred between officers of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and six members of

28215-497: Was shot and killed by a Seattle Police Department officer in south Seattle . From February 3–12, 2013, former LAPD officer Christopher Dorner killed three people (including an officer) and injured three other officers. On February 12, Dorner engaged in a shootout with police at Big Bear Lake, California , killing one and injuring another. Police then deployed tear gas into Dorner's cabin, which possibly set it on fire, after which Dorner committed suicide. On September 16, 2013, at

28386-495: Was still badly injured and had to be carried to the king on a stretcher for the presentation. Both Bryant and Woodhams were also promoted; as they were being invalided out of the force, the promotions ensured they were paid a higher pension. The Lord Mayor of London presented the King's Police Medal to the families of the three murdered policemen. For each child of the murdered policemen, the City of London Corporation gave five shillings

28557-479: Was taken into custody on 15 February. The committal proceedings spread from December 1910—with Milstein and Trassjonsky appearing—to March 1911, and included Hoffman from 15 February. The proceedings consisted of 24 individual hearings. In February Milstein was discharged on the basis that there was insufficient evidence against her; Hoffman, Trassjonsky and Federoff were released in March on the same basis. The case against

28728-449: Was taken to St Bartholomew's Hospital . He was half-conscious on arrival, but recovered enough to be able to have a conversation with his pregnant wife and answer questions about the events. At 6:45   pm on 17 December his condition worsened, and he died at 7:30. The killings of Tucker, Bentley and Choate remain one of the largest multiple murders of police officers carried out in Britain in peacetime. The City of London police informed

28899-506: Was the first time that the police had requested military assistance in London to deal with an armed siege. Twenty-one volunteer marksmen from the Guards arrived at about 10:00   am and took firing positions at each end of the street and in the houses opposite. The shooting continued without either side gaining any advantage. Churchill arrived on the scene at 11:50   am to observe the incident at first hand; he later reported that he thought

29070-422: Was to stand by in readiness to prevent the conflagration from spreading. By 2:30   pm the shooting from the house had ceased. One of the detectives present walked close to the wall and pushed the door open, before retreating. Other police officers, and some of the soldiers, came out and waited for the men to exit. None did, and as part of the roof collapsed, it was clear to onlookers that the men were both dead;

29241-435: Was working there. Bentley asked him to fetch someone who spoke English; Gardstein left the door half-closed and disappeared inside. Bentley entered the hall with Sergeant Bryant and Constable Woodhams; as they could see the bottom of his trouser legs, they soon realised that someone was watching them from the stairs. The police asked the man if they could step into the back of the property, and he agreed. As Bentley moved forward,

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