Police Kill One, Wound Three Armed Robbers Many Pedestrians Suffer in Grim: Encounter 'N one of the fiercest gun fights between police and armed robbers in Shanghai for many years, one robber was shot dead, three others wounded, one suspect wounded, the master of the house where the robbery occurred wounded, one pedestrian killed anc three others wounded by stray bullets in Avenue Edward VII on March 24, It is estimated tha over 100 rounds were fired in the grim encounter, in which four desperate men were fighting for their lives against a determined police posse from Chengte Road Station, The police under Inspector B. B. Everest, made 2 brilliant success out of the round-up, shooting down all four robbers without a single policeman being hurt.
Outstanding in the gun battle, in which great heroism was displayed by the entire police party, were a courageous attack upon an armed robber by Inspector Everest, "who {eked the man after he had exhausted all "Wis ammunition; the action of Sergeant W. H. Johnson, on patrol in the vicinity, who quickly Joined in the affray although he had. mo steel vest; the shooting down two robbers by a party led by' In~ spector S, V. Gash; and of a third by. Sergeant 0, C.' Goldsmith, "who jumped on to the roof of the' house, and with his first shot brought down his man as he was making 9 dash across the courtyard, AN) of the booty' was recovered.
Alarm Raised The grim drama began soon after 8 am, when a coolie employed at House'1240 Avenue Edward Vil told the trae policeman on duty at the corner of the Avenue and Mohawk {as he leaped out on to the verandah In the front of the house in an attempt to reach safely through. the main entrance.
The master of the house was wounded before the police had been summoned, and the pedestrian casualties during the shooting included one Chinese boy shot dead, two women and one man wounded. The French Police later reported that a man had been found suffering from a gunshot wound" at the comer of "Route Bluntschli and Rue Lafayette, a distance of no less than 1,000 yards away from the scene of the robbery.
was concluded that the man must have been injured by shots from one of the armed. robbers.
'A touch of humour in the otherwise grim "story is. that a shopkeeper on the opposite side of the street has placed a claim with the French Police for $80. for damage caused by police bullets.
Road that armed robbers were ransacking the house and terrorizing the: inmates, "The 'C.P.C. quickly telephoned through to Chenglu Road Police Station for assistance. Inspec-lor Everest was on duty In the charge Foam at the time, and he. swiftly organized a aiding party "eight strong, all "of whom. packed into a Ford car and sped" to the scene: of the -robbery, Outside "the louse, Inspector! Everest quickly made his plans for inkling the gang, all of them armed, all desperate men ready to shoot fas soon as the first opportunity pre sented itself. He sent one party around to the back of the house, placing it under Inspector Gash. He hhimseit headed a second party, which stationed itself outside the front en: trance to the house, ready to tackle robbers if they made a dash for fately through the bl Iron gates, already locked by the robbers. prevent police from entering by this means.
It Was not long before the party! at the rear of the house had engaged the, robbers. "The. police stationed themselves at the foot of a staircase inside the back entrance. "Suddenly, they heard three men thumping down the stairs, Eight guns went into} action as, police and robbers blazed away' at each other. Two robbers {oll wounded at the foot of the stair case, while the third dashed thro {0 the front entrance, blood stream= ing from hig clothing where more than one police bullet had already: found its mark
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.