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Here is a story about the Accent Signage Shooting from the “Minneapolis Police 150th Anniversary” book published by Acclaim Press (currently out of print).
Sergeant Billy Peterson remembers the feeling in the pit of his stomach as he led his 1280 team toward Accent Signage on a September afternoon in 2012. “I just remember how surreal it was. This was the real deal.”
A disgruntled employee turned active shooter was making his way through the workplace.
“It was extremely stressful because of the horrific nature of how it transpired. We had gone into the loading dock and one victim was dead, a catastrophic shot to the head. Then we saw them removing a critical victim. We’re bypassing people who had essentially just been assassinated. I still remember their names to this day,” Sergeant Peterson explained.
It took 39 minutes to find the shooter, who had taken his own life, but not before taking the lives of six others. “On this call, it was just people, innocent people at work, trying to earn a living, trying to go about their day. Some of the victims in this, I don’t think, had any idea what was about to happen,” Responding Officer Ken Tidgwell would recount years later.
The entire building was cleared an hour and 39 minutes after SWAT teams first entered. Two victims survived.
“We learned from Columbine that street cops can’t sit on the outside and wait for SWAT cops to show up because lives are lost in those precious seconds and moments. From my standpoint, I was extremely proud of our street cops. One of the surviving victims said ‘I had given up.’ He believed that his life was over. He heard officers calling out ‘this is the Minneapolis Police Department’ and it gave him the will to live,” Sergeant Peterson said.
Sergeant Peterson still drives by the building where one of the worst mass shootings in the state’s history took place. He still gets chills as he recalls the longest hour and 39 minutes of his career.
Accent Signage Victims
Six victims were killed in the shooting – five at the scene and the sixth dying in the hospital the following day. They were:
Another company executive, Director of Operations John Souter, was hospitalized at Hennepin County Medical Center in critical condition for some time. Another employee, Battites Wesley, suffered a graze wound and was hospitalized in stable condition and released the following day from Hennepin County Medical Center.
The City League Baseball Championship of 1952 was held at Nicollet Park “The Home of the Minneapolis Millers” which was located at Nicollet Avenue and 31st Street South.
In this photograph from August 6, 1952, Ron Olson (right) of the Camden Team slides into third base while John Dziedzic (left) covers third base for the Fire and Police Team.
Photograph courtesy of Hennepin County Library
You will recall the recently-posted story of the robbery of the Third Northwestern National Bank.
Minneapolis Police Officers came out in numbers to try to help save Officer Leo Gorski by donating their blood.
In this photograph from December 16, 1937, Dr. Rueben Berman takes blood from Officer R.C. Lindvall while a line of officers await their turn to give blood.
From left to right, they are: Officers A.W. Miller, Earl F. Richter, J.P. Larson, J.W. O’Neill, T.A. Dahl, and Paul Green.
The assisting nurse is Ruth Broderick and the assisting orderly is unidentified.
Photograph courtesy of Hennepin County Library
Lawrence Deluney is clearly very happy after getting unstuck from the stove pipe at his house at 3102 Harriet Avenue South.
On August 14, 1940, Lawrence had been having a fun time watching his father take the pipe off the stove in the picture.
Suddenly, Lawrence backed up to the stove and somehow got his head jammed into the opening.
The Minneapolis Police Department was called and officers were able to free Lawrence.
Photograph courtesy of Hennepin County Library
Minneapolis Police Detectives Robert Ball (left) and Harold Brademan (right) investigate the scene at the Good Service Pen Shop in the Plymouth building after it was robbed on February 13, 1947.
The owner, Fanny Friedman (b. 1896, d. 1980), was known for her lively personality and her love of pens. Ms. Friedman left school after the eighth grade and began her life’s work selling and repairing pens. She established the Good Service Pen Shop in the 1920s and was in business at the same location until the late 1970s.
During the robbery, Ms. Friedman attempted to thwart the gunman by throwing a bottle of ink at him.
Ms. Friedman was shot and was in the hospital in critical condition for weeks.
Cedric Adams, who was a popular Twin Cities radio broadcaster on WCCO, gave daily updates on her recovery.
Quotation by Ms. Friedman from Robert T. Smith column, Minneapolis Tribune, September 8, 1976
Photograph courtesy of Hennepin County Library
You will recall the story from last week of the shooting of Officer James H. Trepanier at the Cotton Club on February 23, 1928.
Here is a wonderful photograph of Officer Trepanier in his full uniform taken sometime after his appointment to the Minneapolis Police Department on February 15, 1923.
Photograph courtesy of Hennepin County Library
Twenty-four persons were injured in a bus accident on March 15, 1948.
The accident occurred where 21st Street meets Queen Avenue South in Kenwood.
Two buses lost control on the icy hill and rammed head-on into each other.
In the photograph, three unidentified Minneapolis Police Officers help the passengers after the crash.
Photograph courtesy of Hennepin County Library
The West Hotel opened its doors in 1884. It stood at the corner of Hennepin Avenue and 5th Street and was considered the fanciest hotel west of Chicago. The West Hotel had 407 luxury rooms, 140 bathrooms, and a lobby which was advertised to be the largest in the country.
On January 10, 1906, a fire started in the first floor packing room of the West Hotel and spread to the elevator shaft where the wood within the shaft was quickly engulfed in flames.
The flames shot up to and spread across the seventh floor which then filled with heavy smoke. When the hotel fire alarms sounded, panic ensued and guests ran throughout the halls to escape the smoke and flames.
Eight persons perished in the fire. Amongst the dead was Minneapolis Hook and Ladder, Truck #1, Captain John Berwin. While attempting the rescue of Mrs D.B. Barlow of Los Angeles, Captain Berwin fell to his death.
Twelve persons – eleven guests and one hotel maid – were badly injured in the fire. Injuries ranged from broken bones to severe cuts from flying glass to exhaustion due to smoke inhalation.
Minneapolis Police Officers were at the scene to provide aid and help evacuate hotel guests and employees to safety.
In the photograph above, Minneapolis Police Officers work to remove the bodies of those who perished in the fire.
Photograph courtesy of Minnesota Historical Society
Story compiled from Associated Press article of January 10, 1906
In the summer of 1978, a photographer named Olof Kallstrom did a series of streetscapes depicting life in Minneapolis.
Can you identify the officer or the car owner in this photograph Mr. Kallstrom took in the Loring Park neighborhood?
Photograph courtesy of Minnesota Historical Society