The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-11-23
BANDIT FIRING
SQUAD SHOOTS
SIX IN HOLDUP
,Tearoom Guests Robbed,
Then Lined Against Wall
as Thugs Targets.
V0LLEY KILLS ONE MAN
Five Others Are Seriously
Wounded in Wanton
Gang Crime.
By United Press

~ tfttbtb 4 1853
WASHINGTON, Nov. 23.-Five
bandits invaded the Old Colonial
tearoom in Bladensburg, Md, early
today, lined twenty persons up
against wall, and opened fire. One
man was killed and four other men
and one woman seriously wounded.
Using tactics made famous by
Chicago gangsters, the thugs first
robbed their victims, then fired in
discriminatory at close range with
revolvers and a sawed-off shotgun.
Then, with the kitchen of the road
house a shambles, and with cries
and groans of the wounded ringing
in their ears, they leaped through
windows and doors and escaped.
The dead man is believed to be
G. Amick of Baltimore. No one in
the tearoom knew him, but partial
identification was made through
labels. His suit bore the label of
the J. A. Simpson Tailoring Com
pany of Baltimore.
Five Badly Wounded
The five wounded. all in serious
condition in casualty hospital here,
are:
Thomas Simone, 90 ISL East Bal
timore street. Baltimore, shot in
both legs and hips.
John Joseph Bartlett, "a, Wash
ington, shot in right knee and left
leg.
Miss Verne Edwards, "a, Washing
ton, shot in pelvis and through body.
Charles Leavitt, "a, proprietor Of
tearoom, shot in both lungs and
face.
Norman Gerey, IS, of 1876 South
Catherine street, Baltimore, shot in
right hip, back, left hand and liver.
According to the story told Mont
gomery county police, eight men
and seven women were in the tea
room eating and dancing, just be-
fore 3 a. m.
A Ford roadster, blue with red
trimmings, drove up to the place,
which is in heavily wooded grounds,
once an old Maryland estate. Five
men stepped out, carrying guns.
One wore white mask-the others
had turned up their coat collars.
Turns Guns on Guests
Led by one man with a sawed
off shotgun, the bandits entered the
front door and ordered the guests
and employees into the kitchen.
Line up against the wall and
keep your hands up" the man in
the white mask ordered.
While the leader and three others
kept their guns trained on the ter
rihed group, the fifth footpad went
through the pockets of the men
and women's purses, obtaining an
estimated total of $500 in cash
and jewelry.
The leader then turned to Leavit
and Snarled:
You're holding out on me, you
--!
Leavitt shook his head, but with
out further waRing the gangster
placed his revolver against the
mans chest and fired.
The other bandits then opened
fire. Bullets riddled the kitchen.
Men and women screamed md
groaned as they fell wounded to the
floor. More than fifty shots we're
fired.
Officers Find Victims
AS the bandits fled, one was be-
lieved to have been cut by window
glass. Leavitt, bleeding from his
wound, dragged himself to tele-
phone and called a constable. When
Constable Cash arrived with other
officers, he found Leavitt collapsed
on the floor by the telephone, the
dead man lying on a pile of news
papers in the kitchen and others
wounded attempting to crawl from
the house.
Simone was under a bush in the
yard outside. Mrs Edwards was in
a parked automobile. nearly uncon-
sciouS from loss of blood. Six girls
were found weeping along the road.
Four guns we're found discarded
in the house and in the surrounding
grounds. Bailiff Lawrence Dayton,
answering the general alarm, saw
two men running along the Balti-
more & Ohio railroad tracks and
gave chase. They escaped, but
Dayton said he believed they were
tmn of the bandits