Herman Edward "Ed" Hollis (January 27, 1903 – November 27, 1934) was an American law enforcement official and

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

(FBI) special agent. As an FBI special agent in the 1930s, Hollis worked with agents

Melvin Purvis Melvin Horace Purvis II (October 24, 1903 – February 29, 1960) was an American law enforcement official and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent. Given the nickname "Little Mel" because of his short, frame, Purvis became noted for leadi ...

Samuel P. Cowley Samuel Parkinson Cowley (July 23, 1899 – November 28, 1934) was an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) who was killed in the line of duty in a gunfight with Baby Face Nelson in 1934 on Route 14 in Barrington, Illinois. Cowley was ...

and others fighting bank robbers,

gangsters A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and r ...

and

organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

in the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

area during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. Hollis is best known for having been killed in the line of duty during an intense

shootout A shootout, also called a firefight or gunfight, is a fight between armed combatants using firearms. The term can be used to describe any such fight, though it is typically used to describe those that do not involve military forces or only invo ...

with Chicago-area bank robber Lester Gillis, a.k.a.

Baby Face Nelson Lester Joseph Gillis (December 6, 1908 – November 27, 1934), also known as George Nelson and Baby Face Nelson, was an American bank robber who became a criminal partner of John Dillinger, when he helped Dillinger escape from prison, in Crown P ...

, at the

Battle of Barrington The Battle of Barrington was an intense and deadly gunfight between federal agents and notorious Great Depression Era outlaw Baby Face Nelson, that took place on November 27, 1934 in Northside Park, in the town of Barrington, outside Chicago, Il ...

in 1934. Hollis was also one of the three FBI special agents who shot

John Dillinger John Herbert Dillinger (June 22, 1903 – July 22, 1934) was an American gangster during the Great Depression. He led the Dillinger Gang, which was accused of robbing 24 banks and four police stations. Dillinger was imprisoned several times and ...

near the

Biograph Theater The Biograph Theater on Lincoln Avenue in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, was originally a movie theater but now presents live productions. It gained early notoriety as the location where bank robber John Dillinger was lea ...

earlier that year, resulting in Dillinger's death. One controversial account also implicates Hollis in the death of

Pretty Boy Floyd Charles Arthur Floyd (February 3, 1904 – October 22, 1934), nicknamed Pretty Boy Floyd, was an American bank robber. He operated in the West and Central states, and his criminal exploits gained widespread press coverage in the 1930s. He was s ...

. Hollis served as a special agent for the FBI's field offices in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, and Chicago for over seven years; at the time of his death, he was 31 years old.

Personal life

Hollis was born in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

in January 1903 and received his law degree from the

Georgetown University School of Law The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Georgetown University, a Private university, private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the larges ...

in Washington, D.C. in 1927. He was married and had one son.

Career

Hollis began his service with the FBI almost immediately after finishing law school in August 1927. During his seven years with the Bureau, Hollis worked with the Kansas City, Cincinnati, and Chicago field offices. Rated as one of the FBI's top investigators, Hollis earned a sharp-shooter's medal for his work with the

Thompson submachine gun The Thompson submachine gun (also known as the "Tommy Gun", "Chicago Typewriter", "Chicago Piano", “Trench Sweeper” or "Trench Broom") is a blowback-operated, air-cooled, magazine-fed selective-fire submachine gun, invented by United Stat ...

. Over the years, Hollis repeatedly requested that the Bureau transfer him to a field office in California or Arizona; doctors insisted that a warmer climate would help improve his wife Genevieve's nervous condition.

John Dillinger shooting

On July 22, 1934, Hollis, Purvis and agents Charles B. Winstead and Clarence O. Hurt participated in a gun battle with the bank robber and gangster

outside the Biograph Theater in Chicago, Illinois. As Dillinger came out of the building with two women, Agent Purvis signaled to the other agents, including Hollis. At least one account states that Purvis then approached Dillinger from behind and said, "OK, Johnnie, drop your gun." Dillinger fled toward a nearby alley and reached in his pocket for a pistol. Hollis, Winstead and Hurt then fired a total of four or five shots; either two or three hit Dillinger, who fell to the ground. According to one source, Winstead fired his .45 pistol three times, and both Hollis and Hurt fired once. Because of the simultaneous gunfire, it was unclear which agent was responsible for the shot that killed Dillinger, and the agents themselves did not say. FBI Director

J. Edgar Hoover John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an American law enforcement administrator who served as the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He was appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation ...

was pleased at the news of Dillinger's death and later recognized Hollis, Winstead, and Hurt for their "fearlessness and courageous action".

Pretty Boy Floyd shooting

Notorious

bank robber Bank robbery is the criminal act of stealing from a bank, specifically while bank employees and customers are subjected to force, violence, or a threat of violence. This refers to robbery of a bank Branch (banking), branch or Bank teller, tell ...

was killed on October 22, 1934 after a

with FBI agents and local authorities in an apple orchard near

East Liverpool, Ohio East Liverpool is a city in southeastern Columbiana County, Ohio, United States. The population was 9,958 at the 2020 census. It lies along the Ohio River within the Upper Ohio Valley and borders Pennsylvania to the east and West Virginia to the ...

. In a 1979 ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine article,

Police Captain Chester C. Smith claimed that Hollis killed Floyd under orders from FBI agent

. According to Smith, after Smith had wounded Floyd, "Purvis turned to G-Man Herman Hollis and said: 'Fire into him.' Hollis obeyed, killing Floyd with a burst from a tommy gun" at close range. This version of events contradicts the official FBI account and is highly controversial since, in Smith's version, Floyd was already wounded and could have been taken into custody at the time Purvis ordered Hollis to fire. In a subsequent letter to ''Time'' editors, FBI Special Agent Winfred E. Hopton claimed that he was one of the agents present when Floyd was apprehended, that he knew Hollis personally, and that Hollis was not present when Floyd was apprehended and could not have been responsible for Floyd's death. At least one other source discredits Smith's version, stating that although Smith's story received wide currency, Hollis was not at the orchard that afternoon. Hollis' FBI profile does not mention his participation in this incident.

Battle of Barrington and death

In 1934, the FBI put Inspector

of the FBI's Chicago Office in charge of the search for

. On November 27, 1934, Cowley received a tip that Nelson had been recognised in

Lake Geneva, Wisconsin Lake Geneva is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located in Walworth County and situated on Geneva Lake, it is home to an estimated 8,105 people as of 2019, up from 7,651 at the 2010 census. It is located about 40 miles southwest of Milwa ...

driving a stolen car. Cowley and Special Agent Hollis left the FBI's Chicago office heading northwest on Northwest Highway to intercept Nelson; Hollis drove. Local FBI special agents William Ryan and Tom McDade spotted a vehicle matching the description of Nelson's stolen car between Fox River Grove and

Barrington, Illinois Barrington is a village in Cook County and Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 10,722 at the 2020 census. A northwest suburb of Chicago, the area features wetlands, forest preserves, parks, and horse trails in a country-s ...

and realized that Nelson, Nelson's accomplice

John Paul Chase John Paul Chase (December 26, 1901 – October 5, 1973) was an American bank robber and Depression-era outlaw. He was a longtime criminal associate of the Karpis-Barker Gang and most notably Baby Face Nelson who later brought him into the John D ...

, and Nelson's wife Helen Gillis were in the vehicle. The occupants of the two cars recognized each other, and Agents Ryan and McDade began a pursuit. After a series of u-turns, Chase shot at Ryan and McDade's vehicle with an automatic rifle. The gunfire broke windows on both cars. Agent Ryan then returned fire, hitting the radiator of Nelson's car. Hollis and Cowley met up with the outlaws as Nelson, whose car was partially disabled from Agent Ryan's shots, left Northwest Highway and stopped his car near the entrance to what is now Langendorf Park in Barrington. Chase, Nelson and Gillis all got out of the car, and Gillis ran toward a nearby field and flung herself down in the grass. When Hollis and Cowley stopped and emerged from their car to apprehend the suspects, Nelson and Chase began firing at them. Hollis and Cowley took cover behind their vehicle; neither was wearing a

bulletproof vest A bulletproof vest, also known as a ballistic vest or a bullet-resistant vest, is an item of body armor that helps absorb the impact and reduce or stop penetration to the torso from firearm-fired projectiles and fragmentation from explosions. T ...

. Both agents returned fire, and Hollis wounded Nelson with a shotgun blast to the legs. Nelson, still standing, continued shooting at Hollis with a rifle. Having emptied his shotgun, Hollis pulled out a pistol and fired as he ran to take cover behind a nearby telephone pole. An eyewitness later recalled that it was at that time that one of the agents "ran across the road and got behind an electric pole, but he got his head blown off." Nelson had struck Hollis in the forehead. Nelson staggered over to where Hollis lay by the pole before making his way to the FBI agents' car. Since Nelson and Chase's stolen car was no longer operable, Chase assisted the badly wounded Nelson into Cowley's car and transferred their guns and equipment into the agents' vehicle. Gillis, who had continued lying in the field during the shootout, jumped into the government vehicle as Chase drove it away. The fierce gun battle was over in less than five minutes. The first bystander to reach the scene ran to where Hollis lay face down; he had suffered severe wounds to the back of his head. The man tried to speak to Hollis, but Hollis only moved his eyes and gasped. Next, the man ran to Inspector Cowley. Cowley, who suffered serious stomach wounds in the gunfight, instructed the man to look after Hollis first, then call the Chicago field office and report what had happened. Flagging down a car, witnesses loaded Hollis inside and directed the driver to Barrington General Hospital; Hollis died before they reached the hospital only a short distance away. A witness then found a

rosary The Rosary (; la, , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), also known as the Dominican Rosary, or simply the Rosary, refers to a set of prayers used primarily in the Catholic Church, and to the physical string of knots or b ...

in Hollis' pocket and called a priest. Cowley died early the next morning at a hospital in

Elgin, Illinois Elgin ( ) is a city in Cook and Kane counties in the northern part of the U.S. state of Illinois. Elgin is located northwest of Chicago, along the Fox River. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 114,797, the seventh-large ...

after unsuccessful stomach surgery. Nelson, critically injured, died at approximately 8 pm that evening. Hollis was survived by his wife and young son, Edward, who found out about his death when they arrived at the FBI Chicago Field Office that day to surprise Hollis to go Christmas shopping. Hollis is buried in Glendale Cemetery in his hometown of

Aftermath

Prosecutors indicted Chase for the murders of both Hollis and Cowley, but for some reason Chase was not immediately tried for Hollis' murder, only for murdering Cowley. Convicted of that crime, Chase began serving his lengthy jail sentence; however, by the mid-1950s Chase had still not been tried for Hollis's murder. Hoover announced that if Chase were ever released from prison, then Hoover would prosecute Chase for Hollis' murder. Chase was aware of the pending indictment for Hollis' murder but took no action for approximately twenty years. Then, in April 1955, Chase or his attorneys filed a motion demanding that prosecutors either seek an immediate trial on Hollis' murder or dismiss the indictment altogether. Prosecutors opposed the motion, but later that year, the United States District Court dismissed the indictment, holding that Chase was entitled to a speedy trial on the indictment for Hollis' murder and that Chase's mere knowledge of the indictment and his failure to take action did not waive this right. With this indictment dismissed, Chase became eligible for parole; he was eventually paroled in 1966 and died of cancer in 1973.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hollis, Herman 1903 births 1934 deaths Federal Bureau of Investigation agents American police officers killed in the line of duty Deaths by firearm in Illinois People from Des Moines, Iowa John Dillinger