The Police Shootout

 

    In preparing to write this blog, I downloaded hundreds of old newspaper articles. It was through this process that I discovered that a very familiar Fairfax site for me was the location of a police shootout in 1929. For the first three-plus years of their marriage, my parents rented the top floor apartment of a two-family house on Lonsdale. This was my and my sister’s first home. My mom remembers being told that someone had been shot in the house, but never heard the whole story. For reference, I’m writing about this area of Lonsdale:

 

    The accounts from the three newspapers I referenced vary somewhat, but I will attempt to piece together the story. The Sunday October 20, 1929 incident started at around 8:00 a.m. when Mariemont police received a report of a drunken disturbance in the vicinity of Lonsdale and Hawthorne in Fairfax. As you know from the previous posts, this was over 25 years before Fairfax became a village and had its own police department. My mom heard (she doesn’t remember from whom) that the disturbance began on the corner where the small salon (and former barber shop) stands. Mariemont patrolman John Bierman responded and found Wesley Williams, John Lawson, and a third man named McDonald making a disturbance. Neighbors warned Bierman that the men were armed, so he returned to Mariemont for assistance.

    Bierman returned to the scene with Lieutenant William Strieder and as the police car pulled up, the three men threw away two bottles of moonshine (this was the Prohibition era). The men resisted arrest. Williams, who was a constable in the Fairfax subdivision for several years, pulled his revolver, but the officers disarmed him. Williams then drew a knife and was again disarmed. Lawson and McDonald stormed the officers and Williams barricaded himself in his home on Lonsdale.

    The officers again returned to Mariemont to get shotguns and ammunition. Mariemont Chief Louis Strieder (Lieutenant Strieder’s father) returned to Fairfax with them. For the next hour and a half, gunfire was exchanged between the police and Williams, who reportedly ran from room to room, window to window, taunting and taking shots at the police. Patrolman Bierman was the first person shot, wounded in the face and arms.

    Chief Strieder, who was credited with removing Bierman from the line of fire, was also shot near his right eye and arm. According to his son’s account, the chief continued to engage with Williams, even though his vision was obstructed by blood from the wound near his eye.

    In the meantime, Cincinnati Police were called to the scene. Motorcycle Patrolman Albert Shane went to the rear of the house and exchanged fire with Williams. Williams called from the back door, “Come in and get me.” Williams went to fire on Shane when Shane shot Williams, causing him to stagger back into his house, closing the door as he went.

    A few minutes later, Mrs. Eva Williams, Wesley’s wife, called for the police to enter because her husband had been shot. Mrs. Williams and her younger brother hid in the home throughout the gun battle. The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department had also arrived at the scene. Police ultimately recovered two shotguns, a revolver, ammunition, and 30 bottles of homebrew.

    During the siege, neighbors hid in their homes to avoid being hit by stray bullets. Even so, a newspaper report stated that a couple of hundred people showed up to watch the shootout from a safe distance. (In my experience, Fairfax always has a strong turnout for tragedies and catastrophes.)

    Among those hunkering down were Wesley Williams’ upstairs neighbors, the Hollidays. According to the Cincinnati Post, “. . . Emmett D. Kirgan, detective chief [of the Cincinnati Police], considered having an airplane bomb the home until he learned another family was inside the house.” Seriously? Where do you get a bomb on short notice? Do you just toss the bomb out of an airplane window or did the Cincinnati police have a bomber on standby? Would it have been accurate enough to only take out that one house and not the neighboring homes and the spectators watching “from a safe distance?” But I digress.

    Wesley Williams was transported to General Hospital, where he died two days later. Patrolman Bierman was hospitalized at Jewish Hospital and recovered. Chief Strieder recuperated at home.

    John Lawson was later taken into custody without incident at his home on Carlton. On January 2, 1930, Lawson pleaded guilty to resisting arrest. As far as I can tell from newspaper accounts, the third man “McDonald” was never apprehended or further identified.

 

Sources

October 21, 1929, page 1, Cincinnati Commercial Tribune Retrieved from https://newspaperarchive.com/cincinnati-commercial-tribune-oct-21-1929-p-1/

January 3, 1930, page 3, Cincinnati Commercial Tribune Retrieved from Cincinnati Commercial Tribune, Retrieved from https://newspaperarchive.com/cincinnati-commercial-tribune-jan-03-1930-p-3/

October 21, 1929 (page 1 of 28). (1929, Oct 21). Cincinnati Enquirer (1923-2009) Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.research.cincinnatilibrary.org/historical-newspapers/october-21-1929-page-1-28/docview/1883065795/se-2?accountid=39387

January 3, 1930 (page 12 of 22). (1930, Jan 03). Cincinnati Enquirer (1923-2009) Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.research.cincinnatilibrary.org/historical-newspapers/january-3-1930-page-12-22/docview/1881580285/se-2?accountid=39387

October 21, 1929, page 1, Cincinnati Post Retrieved from NewsBank: America's Historical Newspapers: https://infoweb-newsbank-com.research.cincinnatilibrary.org/apps/news/document-view?p=EANX-NB&docref=image/v2%3A13E376E28E0F8354%40EANX-NB-1677071361E61D6C%402425906-167529256F037E2D%400-167529256F037E2D%40.

October 22, 1929, page 13, Cincinnati Post Retrieved from NewsBank: America's Historical Newspapers: https://infoweb-newsbank-com.research.cincinnatilibrary.org/apps/news/document-view?p=EANX-NB&docref=image/v2%3A13E376E28E0F8354%40EANX-NB-16770713DEF2E18E%402425907-1675292EF9E0843F%4012-1675292EF9E0843F%40.