The killings were a consequence of an attempt to kill George 'Bugs' Moran[?]. The plan was devised by Jack 'Machine Gun' McGurn[?] on behalf of Al Capone. He assembled an team of six men led by Fred Burke and intended to have Moran lured into an ambush. Moran and his men were to be tricked into a warehouse on Clark Street on the pretext of the offer of some bargain hijacked whiskey, the Burke team would then enter the building disguised as policemen and kill them. The chief suspects, McGurn and Capone, would be well away from the scene.
The plan did not work. Five men of the Burke team drove up to the warehouse in a stolen police car at around 10.30, three were dressed in police uniforms and two in ordinary clothes. They found seven members of Moran's gang but not the man himself. The gang members were told to line up against the back wall and they were then shot. Moran had been approaching the warehouse but the premature arrival of the police car scared him away. The dead men were James Clark, Frank and Pete Gusenberg, Adam Heyer, Johnny May, Reinhardt Schwimmer and Al Weinshank
Although not a major event it grew out of all proportion through nationwide media attention.
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