On patrol in the east Oakland hills on Independence Day, 1931, Officer William T. Kohler was waved down by two utility workers. They reported several damaged slot machines lying on the ground some distance away. He drove over to the area and came upon two young men shooting at tin cans. Upon seeing the officer, the pair climbed inside their gray roadster and prepared to leave, but Kohler motioned for them to stop for questioning.
When Kohler neared the vehicle, one of the subjects called out, “Stick ’em up.” As he began to draw his own weapon the two fired on Kohler, striking him in the cheek and the chest, and felling him. As he laid on the ground, the suspects started up the roadster and drove over him. (This was confirmed by an eyewitness and marks on the officer’s clothing.) The eyewitness called for assistance for the downed officer. The duo made good their escape.
Kohler, 50, died of his wounds at the hospital. A veteran of 25 years of service with the Oakland Police Department, his death was mourned by his fellow officers, city officials, and the public.
Investigators discovered that one of the weapons used against Kohler had been stolen from an Alameda officer a week earlier. That officer had also been shot, but his badge stopped the round. He was knocked unconscious and the assailants stole his weapon and baton.
After an intensive investigation and issuance of an all points bulletin, Kohler’s assailants were apprehended in Utah.
Edwin R. Jensen, was a thirty-four-year-old Santa Ana Police Department Motorcycle Officer who died on March 3, 1931, after crashing his motorcycle while chasing a speeding vehicle on east First Street in Santa Ana. The accident occured February 28. He had sustained severe head injuries in the accident and was taken to the Santa Ana Valley Hospital by citizens who had witnessed the accident. Officer Jensen was a thirteen month veteran of the Santa Ana Police Department at the time of his death.
Officer Elber D. Warren was on routine patrol when his motorcycle collided with an automobile. Officer Warren was thrown to the pavement and died from his injuries.
On January 12, 1931, Officer Ronald Wainscott, 27 years old, was responding to an emergency fire call when his vehicle broadsided a Cadillac Victoria Coupe in the intersection of Haley Street and De La Vina Street. The devastation was heightened by the high rate of speed both vehicles were traveling at as they entered the intersection.
Officer Wainscott and an occupant of the Cadillac were transported to Cottage Hospital where they later died of their injuries. The call Officer Wainscott was responding to was later determined to be a false alarm.
Officer Richard Philpott and his partner, Officer Charles Fife, received instructions over the Oakland Police Headquarters phone to proceed to a residence to patch up a family disturbance. They were met by a large crowd of neighbors and the family of the man of the household. The wife told the officers that her husband had been acting strangely that day and had beaten her. Her son said that his father was in the barn next to the house and that he had a shotgun. He said that the shotgun wasn’t loaded though.
The officers proceeded to the barn to address the man. As they stepped through the door, the information regarding the unloaded shotgun proved erroneous. Philpott was struck in the face by the shotgun blast. He fell to the ground, unconscious. Fife fired six rounds at the suspect, incapacitating him.
Philpott was rushed to Merritt Hospital, blinded and with almost 50 buckshot penetration wounds to his head. He died of his wounds the next day on January 7. He was survived by his wife and stepdaughter and stepson.
