Douglas McGregor, Ernest Barrett, Alfred Booth, Joseph Chamberlain
The Shoot-Out at 156 Robinson Street
May 29, 1924
The back yard of 156 Robinson Street in Hamilton has changed so little in the past ninety-six years that, with a little imagination, one can almost reach out, part the mists of time and watch a man die.
We will never know what possessed Jack Laurenchuk to start shooting at police officers on a spring morning in 1924. What we do know, is that his decision to do so cost him his life.
The events began innocuously enough about 1:00 a.m. on May 29th when motorcycle officers Douglas McGregor and J. Rolfe1 were sent to check out a report of prowlers at Hess and Duke Streets. On the way, they tried to stop a Ford touring car occupied by three young men, but the driver sped off towards Bay and Bold Streets where they dumped the car and vanished into nearby alleys. The officers searched until they saw them running across Caroline Street. This time they opened fire at the retreating figures who once again eluded them in the darkness.
The sudden gunfire awakened Mrs. Emma McCallum of 156 Robinson Street, who couldn’t sleep afterwards. A little over an hour later she heard someone clambering over the fence into her back yard. Alarmed, she called the police. Detective Chamberlain2 responded in the emergency car picking up additional officers, including Constable Booth3, along the way. They were also joined by motorcycle officer Ernest Barrett4 (Superintendent L. Bowen ‘s grandfather) and, as a group, moved into the area to support officers McGregor and Rolfe.
When they arrived, the officers fanned out. Constable Barrett went directly to the rear of the McCallum home with his gun holster opened. He shone the beam of his flashlight back and forth in the blackness until he spotted the prowler crouching under the back porch with a gun pointed directly at him. Neither man fired which allowed Barrett to back out of harm’s way then out to the street where he was able to alert the others.
The death scene where the culprit was found. The X on the fence is a bullet home and the X under the porch is where he died.
Constable McGregor, meanwhile, had gone next door to check out the yard at 164 Robinson Street. Without knowing what had happened to Barrett, he scrambled onto the fence separating the two yards and shone his flashlight directly into the prowler’s face. Ignoring McGregor’s command to surrender, the man opened fire. Constables McGregor, Barrett and Booth returned fire from two different spots, catching the man in the crossfire. With the gunman surrounded, Detective Chamberlain ordered the officers to cease fire and hold the perimeter. When dawn arrived, the man’s body was found close to the fence, a loaded .38 calibre revolver still clutched in one hand. He had been shot through the head.
At the morgue, the police were faced with the problem of identifying the dead man who, although well dressed, carried no identification. William Pinch, the police department’s civilian fingerprint expert, was called upon to solve the mystery. By the following day he had confirmed the man was Jack Laurenchuk, a small-time safe breaker.
What Laurenchuk and his companions were doing in the area will never be known. The police speculated they may have been bootleggers looking for homes to break into to steal liquor, a common occurrence during Prohibition. It was even suggested that the target was Rocco Perri, self-styled King of the Bootleggers, who lived nearby at 166 Bay Street South and was out of town at the time.
In the confusion, Laurenchuk’s companions managed to get away. Two fully loaded guns found nearby attested to their line of retreat and lack of resolve to do battle with the police. By the time the police remembered to check on the abandoned car, it too had disappeared.
Information courtesy of: Special Collections, Hamilton Public Library.
About the involved Police Officers:
1 Constable J. Rolfe, John Edward Rolfe
2 Detective Sergeant Arthur Joseph (Joe) Chamberlain joined the Hamilton Police Department in November 1910 at 22 years of age. His pay was $27.13 twice a month and he was off one day a month, just one. In uniform for eight years he was teamed up with another former Police Chief, Joseph Crocker, on morality work, but at the end of that time the pair moved in the Detective Office. He worked on some of the biggest local criminal cases. Old timers at Central Police Station remembered when Chief Chamberlain (then a Sergeant of Detectives) carefully transcribed every detective report and occurrence by hand. The days of secretaries, typewriters and other machines hadn’t reached the department then.
He held every rank in the force except uniform Sergeant, rising to the rank of Chief Constable on February 3, 1950 at the age 62 years succeeding Chief J. R. Crocker. Chief Chamberlain started out with 83 men on the force and a salary of $5,400. He retired in 1952 with 42 years of service. He passed away in 1955 at the age of 67 years.
(Excerpts from The Hamilton Spectator, It’s in my Blood”, Gentleman Police Chief Looks Forward to Rest”, Gary Lautens, 1952)
3 Constable Alfred Booth (1898-Mar-05 to 1958-May) joined the Hamilton Police Department on April 3, 1921 at 23 years of age. He retired in March 1958 with 37 years of service. His father was a police officer in Aberdeen, Scotland. With thanks to the Booth family.
4 Constable Ernest Walter Edward Barrett (1895-Sep-25 to 1975-Feb-25) joined the Hamilton Police Department on October 19, 1920 at 25 years of age. He rose to the rank of Detective Sergeant. He retired on September 30, 1955 with 35 years of service. Following retirement, Ernest worked for 10 years serving summonses for the Sheriff’s Department. Ernest proudly served in WWI in the Army in the 4th Battalion and fought at Vimy Ridge and Ypres. He is the grandfather of Retired Superintendent Lynda Bowen.
With thanks to the Bowen family.
By Bob Rankin, Retired Detective/Sergeant, Hamilton Police Service