Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre
Valentine’s Day has not just been known as a day of love, giving, and friendship. On this day, under the command of Al Capone, marked the death of seven people due to a Prohobition Era conflict. On the morning of Valentine’s Day, six members of the “Bugs” Moran gang and Dr. Reinhardt H. Schwimmer were lined up against the rear inside wall of the SMC Cartage Company in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago’s North Side. They were shot by Capone’s men as well as “outside talent”. Two were dressed as Chicago police officers, while the others were dressed in long trench-coats. During these shootings, Al Capone took vacation in Florida.
This massacre was set up from a plan devised by members of the Capone gang to eliminate Bugs Moran, the boss of the North Side Gang. It was planned for a number of reasons including retaliation of an unsuccessful attempt to murder Jack McGurn, the North Side Gang’s complicity in the murder of Pasqualino “Patsy” Lolordo as well as Antonio “The Scourge” Lombardo, Bugs Moran’s muscling in on a Capone-run dog track in the Chicago suburbs, and the rivalry between Moran and Capone for control of the Chicago bootlegging business.
Al Capone got away with planning and executing the crime, but it is said that in his last days, he was haunted by some of the victims of this massacre he had planned. Check out our article, Al Capone’s Ghost, to learn more about the ghostly sightings and more information on Al Capone.
