Patrol Officer Harry A. Chesmore

Harry A. Chesmore

Patrol Officer Harry Chesmore was shot and killed while transporting two robbery suspects to the police headquarters.

The two suspects, one juvenile and one adult, had just robbed the porter at the Hotel McKay. Officer Chesmore arrested the two as they attempted to flee across the Interstate Bridge into Superior, Wisconsin. He had them board the streetcar platform and was taking them to headquarters when the juvenile complained of being cold. He had told the juvenile to go inside the streetcar to stay warm. Moments later, he was distracted by a drunk man on the streetcar's platform while the streetcar was in the area of Garfield Avenue and Superior Street.

One of the prisoners took the opportunity to draw a pistol and shot Officer Chesmore in the chest and head, fatally wounding him. The two then robbed the streetcar's passengers and fled.

Officer Chesmore succumbed to his wounds the following day.

Both were later apprehended, convicted of second-degree murder, and sentenced to life in prison. One of the subjects died in prison of tuberculosis, and the other died of the same disease shortly after being released to his parents.