William J. Grooms

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.