The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-10-14
ROBBER IS SHOT
DOWN IN STORE
Oscar Gilmore Defends Him
self Successfully AGAINST
Man Who Tries HoId-up.
DEAD MAN UNIDENTIFIED
TRAGEDY TAKES PLACE IN
DOWNTOWN DISTRICT.
DEAD MAN UNIDENTIFIED

An unidentified man was shot and
Killed by Oscar Fillmore in his grocery
store at los West Third South at 1920 last
night Gilmore killed the man because ne
feared the intruder intended to hold him
up.
Shortly after 10 o'clock Gilmore noticed
the stranger walking up and down in
trent of the store AS soon as some Gus
TONER'S who We're in his store went out
the man entered the grocery
He walked up to the counter and asked
Tor some cheese and crackers As the
proprietor turned his back the man said
in gruff voice:
No, l don't want your Crackers 7
want your money
well you don't get it, replied the
shopkeeper as he grabbed his gun from
a shelf behind him and started around
from behind the counter to meet the ban
dIt, who by this time had started toward
Gilmore
Gilmore struck his assailant twice with
the gun before he fired any shots He
struck him once with the revolver on the
SHOULDER and once on the wrist, knocking
the skin Off
Hand-to-hand Struggle.
Then followed desperate hand-to-hand
struggle for the possession of the gun
Both men were wedged into narrow
place between the grocer's refrigerator
and the counter; In their struggle sacks
We're knocked off from the shelf and
strewn about the floor.
Each man was desperate because he
knew that it meant death if the other
man secured the gun They fought fran
ucaIly for fully five minutes, when final
~ the grocer got the revolver away from
his opponent and leaped backwards to-
ward the cash register
He pointed his gun at the robber and
fired. The bullet went wild and crashed
through the top of the wall case behind
the counter. The highwayman kept COM
ing toward the grocer, and when he fired
the fatal shot the man was scarcely a foot
away.
The bullet crashed through the third
rib and lodged in the heart. The man fell
forward with groan and death was al
most instantaneous Gilmore stood over
his victim with the smoking revolver in
his hand ready to fire another shot if
The dead man lay in a heap behind the
counter. blood streaming from his mouth
and nose and that part of the grocery
store was literally bathed in gore
pedestrians heard the shot and teIe-
phoned to the police from the Metropole
saloon The patrol wagon and Detective
Matthew Rhodes responded to the call.
CorroboratIVe Evidence Found.
The officer found he dead man in a
heap behind the counter. Gilmore was
beside him and told the policeman his
version of the tragedy. As there were
the shooting that the police were able
to discover. Bits of circumstantial evil
dence, however, corroborated the grocer s
claim of self-defense. The only feature
Of the affair found on the other side is
the fact that the man he claims tried to
hold him up was unarmed.
AS soon as Detective Rhodes saw the
seriousness of the affair he teIephoned for
Chief Sheets. The chief and Captain
BUrbidge drove at once to the scene of
the shooting. Coroner Dana T. Smith
reached the grocery store soon afterwards
and together with the police began an in
vestigatiOn of the tragedy.
The body was removed to the undertake
ing rooms of Z. g. O'Donnell, where the
clothing was searched. Nothing was
found on his person to identify him in
any way
In his outside coat pocket there was
found a Union Pacific folder and a theat-
company, which showed at Rocky Ford
Colo, Sept. %. In his vest pocket there
was about 40 cents in change and in his
trousers pocket there were two half dol
a pocket comb were the dead mans only
other possessions There was no gun or
any other weapon whatever on him.
The ill-fated stranger was apparently a
man of from 35 to 40 years old. He had a
sandy moustache and dark brown hair.
His eyes were brown and his features
sharp and regular. He was feet and p
an inch tall and he weighed about 10
pounds His build was rather Slight and
his face was thin with a pale complexion
His teeth were in good condition, the only
dental work that had been done was a
gold tooth on each side of his upper row.
He was shabbily dressed, but his hands
were soft-an evidence that he had not
done a great deal of manual labor.
Gilmore Tells His Story.
After the body had been removed from
the store and taken to the undertaking
rooms Gilmore again related his part in
the tragedy to Captain j. B. Burbidge
and several other police officers, describ-
ing infinitely every detail of the shooting.
He then closed the store and accompan-
led the officers to the undertaking par
lors of P j. O'Donnell, where he was
closely questioned by Chief of Police
George A. Sheets and Coroner Dana T.
Smith.
Ellmore's statement of the shooting is
as follows:
al saw this man walking by my store
two OF three times before he came into
the place. / was waiting on some custom
ers and as soon as they went out he came
in l was standing behind the counter
near the cash register and he walked up
to ne. saying:
az would like some cheese and crack
ers.'
''I turned around to get the crackers
and started toward the end of the coun-
ter to get the cheese when he walked