Perhaps the wildest all-time attempted jailbreak around Montreal took place in 1886 at St. Vincent de Paul in Laval where 16 convicts were shot.
The main characters were Peters, jailed for holding a child on a stove and Viau, a notorious highwayman.
The two inmates started the revolt by hammering a guard named Bostock on the head with a crowbar. Bostock was an Englishman who stood 6'3"of pure muscle.
The two seized some pistols and set up a ladder and a full-out gunfight ensued with the convicts wielding pistols and the guards rifles.
Convict Ouimet was shot at while attempted to get up a ladder and fell off and convict Corriveau was shot dead trying to climb the ladder.
Chief Warden Laviolette bravely entered the fray in a futile attempt to negotiate. They tied him up.
The hostages used human shields with the hostages, or as a reporter describes it: "with diabolical calculation hit upon the plan of making a human breastwork of the warden and stewards.
The nine guards were face to face with the 16 rebel convicts and Laviolette ordered the guards to shoot, even though he was being held hostage as a human shield.
Laviolette was hit with four bullets, one into the jawbone which went through his neck, another in the back that came out of his groin and another through his wrist. He wasn't expected to survive, so we're assuming he died from the wounds.
Convicts Holden and Norman were hit in a gun battle that last about one hour and saw about 100 shots fired.
A particularly wicked convicted known as "The Dummy" refused to show mercy on guard Bostock who was so tightly tied that he was in danger.
When a convicted offered to loosen guard Bostock, The Dummy blocked the intervention and kicked Bostock in the stomach. The Dummy was going to smash Bostock in the head with an iron bar but another convict stopped him.
The insurrection was eventually quelled and the inmates retreated to their cells and Detective Cullen rushed to the scene on horseback.
The main characters were Peters, jailed for holding a child on a stove and Viau, a notorious highwayman.
The two inmates started the revolt by hammering a guard named Bostock on the head with a crowbar. Bostock was an Englishman who stood 6'3"of pure muscle.
The two seized some pistols and set up a ladder and a full-out gunfight ensued with the convicts wielding pistols and the guards rifles.
Convict Ouimet was shot at while attempted to get up a ladder and fell off and convict Corriveau was shot dead trying to climb the ladder.
Chief Warden Laviolette bravely entered the fray in a futile attempt to negotiate. They tied him up.
The hostages used human shields with the hostages, or as a reporter describes it: "with diabolical calculation hit upon the plan of making a human breastwork of the warden and stewards.
The nine guards were face to face with the 16 rebel convicts and Laviolette ordered the guards to shoot, even though he was being held hostage as a human shield.Laviolette was hit with four bullets, one into the jawbone which went through his neck, another in the back that came out of his groin and another through his wrist. He wasn't expected to survive, so we're assuming he died from the wounds.
Convicts Holden and Norman were hit in a gun battle that last about one hour and saw about 100 shots fired.
A particularly wicked convicted known as "The Dummy" refused to show mercy on guard Bostock who was so tightly tied that he was in danger.
When a convicted offered to loosen guard Bostock, The Dummy blocked the intervention and kicked Bostock in the stomach. The Dummy was going to smash Bostock in the head with an iron bar but another convict stopped him.
The insurrection was eventually quelled and the inmates retreated to their cells and Detective Cullen rushed to the scene on horseback.
Incidentally, Montreal used to have a sheriff, although I have yet to discover why and in what year the office was discontinued.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, sheriffs still exist in some Canadian provinces. See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheriff#Canada
Sheriff's cars are quite common in downtown Calgary.
ReplyDelete