Police Officer John J. Lanahan

John J. Lanahan

Officer Lanahan was shot and killed by a prisoner he was searching at the Central Station Jail. The suspect had been arrested for larceny and taken by officers to the Central Station. Officer Lanahan, a jail officer, was searching the suspect when the suspect drew a gun and shot and killed Officer Lanahan.

The suspect was convicted of murder and sentenced to life. He was paroled in 1936 but returned to prison a a few weeks later for violating his parole in Pennsylvania for disorderly conduct. On October 26, 1943, he escaped from the Maryland Penitentiary. On May 21, 1944, he was recaptured in Martinsburg, West Virginia. He died in prison on October 14, 1952.

Officer Lanahan had served with the agency for 18 years.