Lieutenant Patrick J. Ryan

Patrick J. Ryan

Lieutenant Ryan was shot and killed after arresting a man wanted for a hold-up three months earlier. He and a police captain had approached the suspect and another man, who both began to run when they recognized the officers. Lieutenant Ryan caught the man as he attempted to climb over a fence. After quickly frisking the suspect Lieutenant Ryan began walking him to a police call box. The suspect suddenly turned and shot him four times, fatally wounding him. Hearing the shots, the captain stopped chasing the other suspect and returned to the scene. Lieutenant Ryan was taken to a local hospital where he succumbed to his wounds.

The 21-year-old suspect was arrested a few days later and charged with murder. On February 1, 1921, he was executed in the electric chair.

Lieutenant Ryan had been with the agency for 20 years. Lieutenant Ryan was know nation wide as "The Man With the Camera Eye". After he looked at a picture of a criminal one time he never forgot his name or his face. He knew all the criminals he saw a pitcure of in Newark and New York.