William J. Grooms
Agency: Kansas City Police Department, MO
Detective William Grooms was one of four law enforcement officers killed in an incident referred to as the Kansas City Massacre.
On June 17, 1933, Kansas City Missouri Police Detectives William J. Grooms and Frank E. Hermanson were sent to meet other officers arriving at Union Station with federal prison escapee, Frank Nash. Apparently an informant had relayed all the information regarding the arrival of Nash and his law enforcement escorts to various gangsters throughout the metropolitan area. The officers were not prepared for the ambush at the Union Station in Kansas City Missouri. It was believed that both Detectives William J. Grooms and Frank E. Hermanson, an F.B.I. agent Raymond J. Caffrey, Oklahoma Police Chief Otto Reed, and the prisoner Frank Nash were all killed by the mobsters, who were said to have been Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy Floyd", Adam Richetti and Vernon C. Miller. Charles Floyd was shot to death in a shootout with a group of law enforcement officers headed by Melvin Purvis, near Clarkson Ohio, on October 22, 1934. Adam Richetti (Ricchetti) was executed in the Missouri State Penitentiary gas chamber October 7, 1938 for the murder of Detective Frank Hermanson of the Kansas City Missouri Police Department. This incident, "The Kansas City Massacre", happened at a time when the FBI did not carry firearms and did not have the power of arrest. Because of this incident, President Franklin Roosevelt enacted legislation to give the FBI the right to carry firearms and to make arrests. Up until this time, the FBI had been strictly an investigative agency. Research in later years tends to support that all the deaths of the incident were caused by shots fired from shotguns by officers themselves, as opposed to machine guns and .45 caliber pistols of the gangsters.
Detective William J. Grooms was pronounced dead at Union Station as a result of a gunshot wound to the chest at the age of 29. He was survived by his wife, Myrtle.
Police recruits took time Friday morning, Sept. 6, 2019, to honor the four fallen law enforcement officers killed 86 years ago. The class ran to the memorial and did push-ups to honor their memories. Officers said it's important to never forget the sacrifices made by those who came before them. They said a tight bond among law enforcement is critical for their safety and security now more than ever."Just like KCPD, nationally, all law enforcement understands the sacrifices that are made, and we are always remembering those who have fallen and those that were here before us," Capt. Tim Hernandez, of the KCPD, said.
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