Ray Houlihan
Served 1946-1970
Ray Houlihan was the second youngest of nine siblings. His parents, William and Rose Houlihan, immigrated from Ireland around 1900; settling in Hamilton to raise their family.. He was a veteran of the Canadian Navy after World War II. Following the war, he joined the Hamilton Police Department in 1946. He married Marion and they resided on McAnulty Blvd and later St. Clair Blvd.
A terrible incident occurred on 18 April 1952. Chief Lawrence reported in his Annual Report to the Police Commission that year; “At 2:45 a.m. on Friday, April 18, 1952, PC’s, Ray Houlihan and Joseph Gratz who were on cruiser car duty checked an automobile on King Street West near Caroline. Ostensibly, and without warning, the driver displayed a .45 cal. Colt Automatic pistol, and there ensued one of the most vicious gun battles in this Department’s history in which P.C. Houlihan suffered serious injury.
The driver, a 27-year-old dischargee (sic) from the Canadian Army Paratroopers named Louis A. Cote, made good his escape from the scene though he himself suffered wounds; but he was captured a short time later and subsequently charged with Attempt Murder and four charges of armed robbery. He was found guilty of Attempt Murder and three of the other charges and sentenced to 15 years in penitentiary.”
As reported in the Hamilton Spectator on 18 April 1952, written by Gary Lautens; “One police officer and a man he sought to question were wounded early today in a battle of bullets fought on a downtown street corner around a police cruiser. An estimated 37 shots were fired in the gun battle. Constable Ray Houlihan, 33, was shot in the arm and twice in the stomach as he tried to disarm the man he was questioning for driving through a red light. His condition was described as serious by St. Joseph Hospital authorities. A few minutes after the shooting 27-year-old unemployed labourer, a veteran of the Korean campaign – was surrounded and arrested by police in his boarding house.
Louis Cote, Cannon Street West, surrendered peacefully. But he had to be carried to hospital because of three bullet wounds – two in his legs and one in his thigh. Police charged Cote with attempted murder. Constable Joseph Gratz, Houlihan’s partner in the gun battle, led the police to the boarding house and held a shotgun on Cote as he was led away to hospital. Constable Gratz gave this description of the fight: “We were patrolling King Street West about 2:45 a.m. today when we spotted a car going north on Bay Street. It turned west on to King Street without stopping for the traffic signal. “We followed the car to Caroline Street when we pulled in front of it. Ray (Houlihan) asked Central Station for a check on the car while I questioned the driver.
I said to the man behind the wheel, “I believe I know you. Isn’t your name Cote?” “The driver said he was Cote. Two months ago, I questioned him in connection with an affray. I helped him along then.” “Ray spotted a duffle bag in the back seat of the car with the name Caldwell on it. I asked to see it and went to grab it. But the suspect said he would show me it.” “I thought it was a ‘bottle’ probably and said so. The man agreed that it was a bottle, but he pulled out a .45 automatic. He fired three shots at me while was only standing four feet away. How he missed I’ll never know.
“Ray and I ducked for cover and pulled our revolvers. Meanwhile this guy was jumping up and down behind the cruiser throwing shots at us. I fired low underneath the car. I knew we hit him. “After Ray and I had discharged our revolvers (six shots apiece) Ray straightened up. Then he made a wild dash for the man. I guess he thought we were sitting ducks. “The gunman as cold as ice fired a shot from about 10 feet away at Ray. Ray dropped. But he tumbled on top of the gunman. The gunman threw him off. “Then as Ray lay on the sidewalk wounded, the gunman calmly took two more shots at him. “Then I made a dash for him. He took a couple of shots at me and then started to run down an alley. “I radioed for an ambulance for Ray and for assistance after losing his trail. I didn’t have time to think about what was happening.
The gun battle must have taken about eight minutes. I would say that the gunman fired from 20 to 25 shots at us. Whether he had two guns or refills I don’t know. “But I do know that Ray deserves a medal for the way he acted.”
About an hour after the shooting Constable Gratz named a suspect to Detective Robert Collings. The two of them led the raid on the Cannon Street West boarding house. Cote was standing in the middle of the room with his hands in his pockets when Constable Gratz and Detective Collings entered. He told police that was employed at International Harvester until recently when he quit because of a possible strike.
Acting Police Chief Leonard Lawrence personally directed his men. Sergeant of Detectives Herbert Whitthun directed operations from Central Police Station detective office with the use of the department’s new walkie-talkie. One resident in the district was almost literally shot out of his bed. A bullet from the gunman’s automatic ricocheted off a brick building nearby, pierced the frame wall of the home and bounced through a bedroom. Other residents, too frightened to watch the battle from the street, hid behind windows in their homes.
After the fight, one resident clad only in his pajamas, pointed out the gunman’s path of escape to police. The first car on the scene to help Gratz and Houlihan was an O.P.P. cruiser manned by Jack Jeffries and J.R. Watson who sped in from Aldershot. Other local police were engaged in a chase after a stolen car in the east end of the city at the time. X-rays today showed that no bullets remained in the wounded officer’s body. All three apparently passed right through. Acting Chief Lawrence (he became the Chief Constable one month later) commended the two cruiser constables for their bravery.
Cote reportedly gave police a statement. The rented car was pock-marked with bullet holes. Constable Gratz has been on the police force since 1945. Constable Houlihan joined six years ago.”
As reported in the Hamilton Spectator on May 8, 1953; “One of the most vicious gun battles in the department’s history took place on April 18, 1952, when PC’s Ray Houlihan and Joseph Gratz were fired on by the driver of a car they had stopped for a routine check. PC Houlihan suffered serious injuries and the gunman Louis Cote, 27 years of age, a discharged paratrooper, was wounded himself. He was captured, tried and convicted of attempted murder and was sentenced to 15 years in penitentiary.”
Somehow, after being shot twice in the stomach and once in the arm with .45 calibre rounds, Ray survived! After his recovery he returned to work. Around 1960, Ray was promoted to the rank of Sergeant, as found in the Annual Reports of Chief Lawrence.
Retired Staff Sergeant Mike Campbell remembers that he was a Cadet in the old Central Station and Sgt. Houlihan was the Station Duty Sergeant around 1975, 1976. He saw that Ray had a big Anchor Tattoo on his left arm, as a memory from his service in the Navy. He also remembers that Ray was an excellent Sergeant.
Mike Campbell was a friend of the now deceased Superintendent Bob Collings. Collings was the assigned investigator on the case that night. He and other officers followed a blood trail to a Boarding house on Cannon Street. There was no such thing as a “SWAT” team at that time, so they had to make the arrest themselves. The other officers stayed outside, and Bob Collings and Joe Gratz went inside and made the arrest. When they found him in his room he was standing with his hands in his pockets. They found the loaded gun hidden nearby.
In 1947 he is pictured playing on an inter-mural
baseball team at a Police Association Picnic.
Ray Houlihan is seen directing traffic
here at King and James in the 1940’s
Ray was able to come back to work. He was working at the Kenilworth Police Station in 1955. Ray was able to retire after a full career in 1977. Later Mike learned that Ray was suffering from Dementia and had been placed into some sort of “Care Home”. Sadly, Ray was a ‘wandering’ patient and one night he found his way onto the railroad tracks in Dundas.
He was struck and killed by a passing train August 12, 1994.
By Dave Bowen, Retired Inspector, Hamilton Police Service