Sometimes, a simple eBay purchase can send you down a rabbit hole….
The LA Times covered the shooting and subsequent manhunt.
To the consternation of my wife, I’m constantly snapping up random bits of LAPD historical items on eBay. A few years ago, I found this. It’s a “Wanted” notice from the office of then-Chief Charles Elton. The paper is incredibly thin, and the photo is actually cut out and glued to the document. It’s dated November 25, 1903, and it’s informing the reader of an attempted murder committed by one Jacinto Ramirez against Quirino Garcia the previous day.
I thought it would be interesting to see how much I could find out about an incident that happened well over 100 years ago.
As an aside, I can’t imagine how hard it was to find people back then. No technology, no computers, nothing. Just a photo stuck to a piece of tracing paper. It’s amazing that people were apprehended at all.
The shooting took place at the corner of Buena Vista Street and Ord Street. The layout of the streets are slightly different today, but it’s generally the area of Ord & Broadway.
"…the chances are that he will be captured.”
Actually, it wasn’t until about a year and a half later that Ramirez would be taken into custody.
