Patrolman Lawrence E. Kost

Lawrence E. Kost

Patrolman Lawrence Kost was shot and killed when he attempted to arrest four men who had just robbed a drug store.

After being informed of a robbery and obtaining a description of the suspects, Patrolman Kost began searching for them. A short time later, Patrolman Kost located the four suspects near the intersection of Boren Avenue and Terrace Street. When he attempted to arrest them, one of the suspects shot and killed him.

Three weeks earlier the four, with another suspect, shot and killed Corporal Frederick Holmes of the San Francisco Police Department, after they wrecked their stolen car during a high-speed chase. Patrolman Holmes was attempting to stop them for an armed robbery they committed minutes earlier. He shot and killed one suspect.

In March of 1916 one suspect was shot and wounded when he attempted to rob a Los Angeles cafe. He was arrested at a Los Angeles hospital where he went for treatment. From his Hospital bed, he told officials two suspects were in San Quentin Prison serving terms for armed robbery. The other suspect was in jail in San Francisco. He said he and the others were involved in the murders of Patrolman Kost and Corporal Holmes. After Patrolman Kost was killed they went back to San Francisco where they killed a man after they broke into his home. During a six-month period, they committed 11 armed robberies in Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Sacramento, and stole several cars. The suspect said only one of his companions was the killer of all three. In 1917 he was convicted of robbery and sentenced to 25 years in San Quentin Prison.

In 1917 the other three were convicted of murder and sentenced to life in San Quentin Prison. One, 22, was paroled on March 29, 1939.

Patrolman Kost had been with the Seattle Police Department for five months.