Lebanon Stunned By Murder Of Police Chief
By JOHN HOWER
From March to June 1890, the talk of the town in Lebanon was
the impending murder trial of Andrew L. Shirk, charged with the
shooting death of Chief of Police Aaron McCord.
Shirk was charged and convicted of the March 27, 1890 murder of
McCord, who was shot while attempting to arrest Shirk for discharging a
pistol in front of the Eagle Hotel on Ninth Street.
Shirk, who was reported to have been either 26 or 28 years old
at the time of the incident, was said to have been a painter by trade,
although reports also indicated that for several years prior to the
crime he had been employed as a butcher. He was said to have had many
friends around
town, but he was also said to have and addiction to strong drink and
had
served two short prison terms for larceny and operating gambling
establishments.
According to reports of the murder in the Lebanon Daily News,
Shirk had been drinking and displaying two large pistols to his friends
and to people passing on the sidewalk in front of the hotel. After
causing a disturbance in front of the hotel that prompted the innkeeper
to come
out, Shirk swore at him, told him to lower his head and then shot over
his
head.
Hearing the disturbance while on his rounds, McCord came to the
hotel and told Shirk that he had to arrest him. Shirk went with McCord
along Cumberland Street, but as they approached Eighth Street, Shirk
reached into his coat, drew one of the guns and fired one fatal shot at
McCord.
Following the shooting, a large crowd of people gathered on
Cumberland Street but no one
attempted to stop Shirk, who in his drunken state, was waving both
revolvers at the crowd. Shirk fled the shooting scene by running down
South Eighth Street to Walnut Alley and then to Eckert Brothers Livery
Stable at
Seventh Street and Walnut Alley.
Once at Eckert's, Shirk forced the owner to saddle a horse for
him and he fled town. Several people and one police officer saw him as
he rode through town, by were unable to catch him.
Shirk, having made good his escape from Lebanon, did not stay a
free man for long. Arriving in Hummelstown the following morning, he
dismounted his horse at the Keystone House and, still under the
influence
of liquor, told the patrons in the bar that he was the man who shot the
policeman in Lebanon. Waving his revolvers at the men in the bar, Shirk
calmly finished his drink and left the establishment.
He then went to Hoffer's Hotel down the street and again
boasted that he was the man who shot Lebanon's police chief. At the
same time
that Shirk was in the hotel, a man from Lebanon who was on business in
Hummelstown recognized him and confronted him. Before Shirk could draw
his pistol from his coat, he was tackled from behind and several
customers
subdued him while Hummelstown police were summoned.
Lebanon officials were quickly notified of the capture and
several officers left on the next available train to bring him back. He
was returned to Lebanon on an early afternoon trains and taken directly
from the Eighth Street station to the jail in a guarded wagon.
Reporters estimated that 2,000 people had gathered along the streets to
see the murderer returned to face justice.
Shirk was brought to trial in early June and local residents
flocked to fill every available seat in the courtroom to see justice
dealt to the man who murdered the nine-year veteran of the police force.
On the first morning of the trial, attorneys assembled a panel
of 45 men from which to choose the jury of 12. Jury selection took the
entire morning session of court, with several men recalled for
questioning when it appeared that the panel would be difficult to full.
Of the 12 jurors selected, only three were from the city.
During the two-day trial, testimony from a number of citizens
who knew Shirk or had witnessed the shooting was heard. Shirk testified
in his own defense that he knew McCord as a friend and had never
intended to shoot him, but thought that the officer was pulling his own
gun.
After deliberating for about nine hours, the jury returned to
the courtroom with their verdict shortly before 8 p.m. Saturday, June
7. The judge presiding over the trial ordered that the courthouse bell,
which normally rang to announce the start of a trial, be silenced to
prevent a rush of people from the streets.
Despite attempts at silence, the courtroom benches were packed
when the foreman of the jury announced that, rather than finding Shirk
guilty of first-degree murder, that had settled on a verdict of
second-degree murder.
Andrew Shirk was sentenced o serve 12 years in Cherry Hill
Prison in Philadelphia for the first murder of a city police officer in
the line duty.
Hower has been a
newspaper
copy editor and Internet Systems Administrator. He has served on
various
historical commission boards has written several hundred local history
columns,
edited two history books and collaborated on several other local
history
projects. Columns posted on the Web are repeats of those that appeared
in
print in other publications.
Copyright © 1997, John Hower jhower@leba.net
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