1933 Cleveland shootings

On March 6, 1933, a mass shooting occurred in Cleveland, Ohio, in which five people were killed and six others were wounded. The perpetrator, 40-year-old Herman Klink, was shot and killed by police after a brief standoff.

According to the account, Klink armed himself with a .22-caliber rifle after reading a newspaper report about a bank holiday. Although much of the attack took place near the Lorain Street Savings and Trust Co. bank, Klink had never held an account or conducted transactions there. He had, however, been observed arguing about financial matters at the bank earlier that day.

Klink left his home on Whitman Avenue and shot a man in the shoulder; the victim survived by taking cover behind a tree. Klink then shot and killed 52-year-old Louis Kallay, who had come outside to investigate the sound of gunfire, and fatally shot 43-year-old Roy Kneale. He continued on foot to West 38th Street, where he shot Herman Pahler, a patrolman directing traffic outside St. Mary's Catholic School, in the abdomen, groin, and legs; Pahler later died of his injuries. As Albert Marquis, 67, and Joseph Sapko, 22, fled in opposite directions, Klink shot both men in the abdomen; they too died in the hospital in the days following the attack. Klink also fired at bystanders who attempted to assist the wounded.

Police officers and armed neighbors pursued Klink for several blocks. After he opened fire on a squad of pursuing detectives, he was shot and killed by detective Jay Cook on Lorain Avenue.

Six additional people were injured in the shooting, ranging in age from 11 to 45 years old.

Klink, born in 1893, had been diagnosed with persecutory delusions and dementia praecox, and believed the government was spying on him. Eight months before the shooting, he had been fired from his job as a woodworker after his employer concluded he posed a danger to coworkers. Neighbors described his behavior as strange, and coworkers reportedly also viewed him as a potential danger but did not report him. Klink remained unemployed in the months leading up to the attack.

This dossier is based on a Wikipedia summary of the events; a contemporaneous New York Times article from March 7, 1933, is cited as a corroborating reference but was not available for direct review of its text.