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John Herbert Dillinger (/ ˈ d ɪ l ɪ n dʒ ər /; June 22, 1903 – July 22, 1934) was an American gangster during the Great Depression. He commanded the Dillinger Gang, which was accused of robbing twenty-four banks and four police stations. Dillinger was imprisoned several times and escaped twice.
John Herbert Dillinger, Jr. was a Midwestern bank robber, auto thief, and fugitive who captured the national imagination until the FBI caught up with him in 1934.
Jun 2, 2023 · Over the course of 10 months, Dillinger and his gang had killed 10 men, wounded seven others, staged three jailbreaks, and made off with over $500,000 (about $7 million in today’s currency). Now, in Chicago, the federal agents finally had the infamous gangster within reach.
- Austin Harvey
- Early Life. John Herbert Dillinger was born June 22, 1903, in Indianapolis, Indiana. As a child he went by “Johnnie.” As an adult he was known as “Jackrabbit” for his graceful moves and quick getaways from the police.
- Early Crimes and Conviction. Matters reached a head on July 21, 1923, when Dillinger stole a car to impress a girl on a date. He was later found by a police officer roaming aimlessly through Indianapolis streets.
- Imprisonment and Jailbreak. Dillinger was sent to the Indiana State Reformatory in Pendleton, where he played on the prison baseball team and worked in the shirt factory as a seamster.
- The Dillinger Gang. After the bold prison escape, the killing of Sarber, the bank robberies, and the attack on the police arsenal, the Pierpont Gang was gaining substantial notoriety.
- Dillinger served in the Navy. Dillinger began his criminal career at the tender age of 20, when he stole a car near Mooresville, Indiana and went on a joyride through Indianapolis.
- He spent most of his adult life in prison. In September 1924, a 21-year-old Dillinger was sent to prison after being nabbed in a botched robbery on an elderly grocer.
- Dillinger helped bust his fellow gang members of out of jail. Dillinger committed a string of high-profile heists during the summer of 1933, but he was desperate to reunite with some of his old prison buddies to form an ace bank-robbing gang.
- He robbed police stations. While most criminals stayed as far away from lawmen as possible, Dillinger was willing to march right into their headquarters with gun in hand.
Jul 22, 2008 · One of the most famous cases in our 100-year history celebrates an anniversary today: On July 22, 1934, the gangster John Dillinger was killed in Chicago, moments after leaving the Biograph...
The FBI investigated his death and declared it a suicide, although the official coroner's report did not label the cause of death as such. A later investigation suggested that Purvis may have shot himself accidentally [44] while trying to extract a tracer bullet. [41]
