Patrolman John Sylvester White

John Sylvester White

Patrolman John White was shot and fatally wounded at a pawn shop on Vine Street by the notorious outlaw Frank Rande, responsible for the deaths of five men and possibly thirteen more in Missouri, Indiana, and Illinois. Rande was recognized by the pawn broker who summoned Patrolman White. White seized Rande who pulled a revolver and shot him in the thigh. Patrollman White and a store clerk returned fire seriously wounding Rande. Patrolman White was taken home where doctors recommended that his leg be amputated. After doing so, the wound still proved fatal. He succumbed to his injuries two days later.

Frank Rande's criminal career started when he escaped from the Iowa Penitentiary where he was serving a sentence for burglary. He was afterwards sent to Michigan City Prison where he served a sentence for burglary under another name. After being released in 1877, he robbed a farmer in Gibson, Indiana, and shot and killed two men and wounded three more who were pursuing him. In August that same year he shot and killed three men who were pursuing him after he robbed a home in St. Elmo, Illinois. His criminal career came to an end three months later when he was taken into custody after killing Patrolman White.

Frank Rande was convicted of murdering the three men in Illinois on February 28, 1878, and sentenced to life in prison. He hanged himself in his cell on March 8, 1884.

Patrolman White had been with the agency for six months. He is buried in Calvary Cemetery and Mausoleum, Saint Louis, Missouri.