Omaha daily bee., 1921-10-15
Slcuth andOne
Bandit Killed
In Gun Battle
Two Others Wounded as OF.
ficers Storm Rendezvous Of
Thieves on Farm Near
Council Bluffs.

woman. They herded the FIVE mel
into one room Of the farm house ant
disarmed them. A sixth man wa
sleeping in a'ear IN the yard. Th'
woman, who appeared TO be sick
was permitted 10 remain in bed
-Four OF the men carried As calibe
revolvers.
Alter the men were rounded III
the woman began 10 choke violently
and Knox summoned the man who i
believed TO be W. A. Bennett.
"Your wife seems sick, you'd bet
ter 20 in and see her" Knox tol'
the man. ...t.
The suspected thief went into the
room. There. il is believed, the
woman in some manner slipped a
gun to the man. for few seconds
later he appeared at the doorway OF
the room and opened fire on Lane
and Murray.
Murray Instantly Killed.
Lane was wounded in the
shoulder, Murray dropped to the
floor. dead.
Lane. although wounded, opened
IRE OH his assailant. The man fell,
but recovered sufficiently TO fight his
way out OF the house, Just outside
the back door, however, he fell
again. this time dead.
Then the wounded detective
turned his attention to the remaining
prisoners. lie walked into a iusil-
adc OF bullets and suffered a second
wound. the bullet piercing his body
Just below the heart. The prisoners.
when the firing began, seized the
weapons which had been taken from
them aud rushed toward the door.
There they met Knox. Jones,
Johnson and Morgan. who had been
scouting the premises. In a bar
rage of shots they fought their way
to freedom. With them was the
woman. who as soon as the shoot
ing started, quickly regaincd her
health.
:. Run Out OF Ammunition.
A shot from the revolver OF Knox
is believed to have wounded the
man who gave his name as Brown.
The bullet struck him i'll the wrist
and detected into his neck. =
In the exchange Of shots that fol-
lowed, the officers ran out of ammu-
nition and thus made II possible for
the fugitives to escape.
When the officers approached the
PLACE, they found one man asleep in
a Gar in the yard. Entering the
hohse they encountered five other
meh, four Of whom were armed
WITH As calibre revolvers. Herding
the incn into q room, the officers
searched theiii and took their guns.
Thssc were turned over to Detective
Lane, who then was placed in
chSrge Of the five men in the ono
ROOM Special Officer Murray
was placed in charge OF the woman.
When the man, believed to be
Bennett, entered the room where
the woman was lying in bed, Off
cert, Murray's- attention was monlen-
tarily distracted and it was during
that time that the woman gave
gun, which had been secreted in the
bed to the man. With this MUIR
ray was killed and then attention
was turned on Lane. As soon as
LAVE was injured the. men he was
made a break and secured
their guns from Lanes pockest.
Is Were Searching Garage.
While the shooting was going on
Sumner Knox and the other men in
the raiding squad were searching a
garage that stands on the north side
Of the house. They started for the
house as soon as they heard the
shooting, but were forced to retire
which was being direct
ed at them from the windows III the
hoNse.
Under cover of the garage they
commanded clear view OF the front
and rear doors and north side of
the house. but the bandits made
their escape through a window on
the south side OF the house and
gained the top of a hill from where
they directed several shots in the
general direction of the house and
officers below. The band then broke
up and started in different direc-
tons. making their escape.
Posses were hastily organized III
Council Bluffs and started guarding
the roads and countryside near the
farm house.
The man who gave his name as
Brown was captured while beating
his way toward Council Bluffs via
The Rock Island railroad tracks. He
was spotted BY reporters for The
Bee, who were travelling along the
River road. The Bee re-
porters Immediately got in touch
with an armed searching party which
took the man In custody. He made
no resistance. lie SAID he had walk
I'd and run about FIVE miles despite
theswound In his neck.
Farm Was Leased.
The scene Of the fatal battle was
III "a farm owned by Mrs. Lena
Snyder Just east OF the Keeline fruit
iarn,. Last March Mrs. Snyder
Ieased the place for one year to a
mai, who gave the name of w. A.
Bennett. 1t was this man Lane be-
ievis who opened fire on the Off
;ers. and subsequently was killed.
Three automobiles and about $500
worth of clothing, believed to be box
car loot, were uncovered on the
place when the officers raided it yes
terday afternoon. One car, a Buick.
,arfied a Colorado license. 2-S78. A
ord touring car carried a Missouri
license. 3i4-l6o. The third machine,
! Ford truck, had an. Iowa license,
S2DW.
II Had MANY Callers.