William J. Grooms
Agency patch
Detective

William J. Grooms

Kansas City Police Department — Kansas City, MO
Veteran → Felonious
End of Watch June 17, 1933
Age 29
Tour of Duty 1 yrs 1 mo
Gender Male

Incident

Detective Bill "Red" Grooms was one of four law enforcement officers killed in an incident referred to as the Kansas City Massacre at the Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri. At 7:17 a.m., as officers placed an escaped convict into a federal car to transport him to Leavenworth, two men stepped out from behind a parked car and fired at officers. During the barrage of gunfire, a car containing a few men also shot at officers with machine guns as they passed the parked cars. Detective Grooms was standing between two of the parked patrol cars. His gun had been fired two times before he was struck and killed. Detective Grooms had served with the Kansas City Police Department for over one year. Survivors include his wife, parents, and sister. On June 17, 1933, a group of men attempted to free inmate Frank Nash as he was being transported to Leavenworth. In the ensuing gun battle, Detective Frank Hermanson and Detective William Grooms, of the Kansas City Police Department, Chief of Police Otto Read, of the McAlester Police Department, Oklahoma, and Special Agent Raymond Caffrey, of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, were shot and killed. This ambush became known as the Kansas City Massacre. Please click here to read more about the Kansas City Massacre and the law enforcement officers killed.

Survivors

Survivors include his wife, parents, and sister.

In Our Keeping

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Stewardship
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Added to badge.nw
August 2, 2026
Last updated
August 2, 2026

Honored here by 1 tribute.

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Tributes

I served 1985 to 1993. You served too, before the badge - different uniform, same idea. You go where you are sent and you do not get to pick the call.
Detective Grooms gave the Kansas City Police Department 1 year.
Thank you for your service to the Kansas City community, and for your service before it. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, brother.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Type Police Department
Location Kansas City, Cass County, MO
Platform Identity kcpd.jackson.mo.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch June 17, 1933
Tour of Duty 1 yrs 1 mo
Age 29
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Felonious
Weapon Rifle

Military Service

William J. Grooms served in the the United States military before joining law enforcement.

View full service record on salute.nw →

The Sacrifice · Felonious

William is one of 15,743 officers killed feloniously in the United States, 57.1% of the 27,552 remembered there.

34,103 officers are remembered on this memorial. Each number below is one of them.

  1. See the roll
  2. See the roll
Compare against
I

Time

In 1933, 184 officers in the United States were killed feloniously, the 15th heaviest of 213 years on record. The heaviest was 1921, with 248.

Every year on record · United States
II

Who

William was 29. Of the 14,219 killed feloniously in the United States whose age is recorded, half were between 31 and 47; the middle age was 38. William had served 1.1 years; the middle length of service was 6 years.

Age at death
Where he stood among them
Age by years of service
III

When

June holds 8.1% of these deaths in the United States; December holds the most, 9.4%. Saturdays: 16.3%.

By month
By day of the week
IV

How

Felonious deaths account for 57.1% of all 27,552 deaths in the United States, the most common cause. The weapon recorded was rifle, in 5.9% of these deaths.

Every cause
Weapons recorded
V

His people

Kansas City Police Department has at least 120 officers remembered here, William among them.

Across the years
VI

Where

Detective William J. Grooms

Kansas City Police Department · End of Watch June 17, 1933

Military Service

William J. Grooms served in the United States military before joining law enforcement.

Visit William J. Grooms’s page on salute.nw →

His full service record — units, decorations, where he served — is kept on salute.nw.

Where the Name Is Cut

National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial · Panel 55-E

Also Remembered

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