At 10:30 am on February 14th, 1929, seven men were murdered in a garage on the north side of Chicago. These seven men all had an association with the North Side Gang, which was headed by George “Bugs” Moran. Moran was having a truckload of whiskey delivered to the garage at the time, which is why the seven victims were present. Shortly after their arrival, two men dressed as police officers and two unidentified men lined up the victims inside the garage and shot them with Thompson machine guns. The believed target of this attack was George “Bugs” Moran, however, he was running late and was not present. This crime had a significant impact on the surrounding community as well as the field of forensic science. Following this crime, a public outcry …show more content…
The attacks were carried out by a shotgun and two Thompson submachine guns, also known as Tommy guns. The Tommy gun was a signature weapon used in organized crime in the 1920s. Found at the scene were multiple shell and bullet fragments, which were collected by investigators. Over 70 rounds were shot during the event. This evidence, along with the evidence on the victims, was then analyzed by Dr. Calvin Goddard, a forensic scientist who was a pioneer in the field of ballistics. Goddard determined that the guns used in the murders were not any that were possessed by the Chicago police. Then, over ten months later, two guns were discovered in the home of a known criminal and Goddard determined through forensic ballistics that both of them were used in the murders. This event was extremely impactful to the field of forensic science. The attention that was brought to the case also extended to Dr. Goddard and forensic ballistics. This attention also brought funding to Dr. Goddard's lab which allowed him to fund more research in the field. No one was ever prosecuted for this crime, but John Scalise and Jack McGurn, associates of the Chicago Outfit, were