Police Officer John J. Lanahan

John J. Lanahan

Police Officer John Lanahan was shot and killed by a prisoner he was searching at the Central Station Jail, which was located at East Saratoga Street & St. Paul Street.

The prisoner had been arrested for larceny and taken by officers to the Central Station. Officer Lanahan, a jail officer, was searching the prisoner when the man drew a gun and fatally shot him.

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

Officer Lanahan had served with the Baltimore City Police Department for 18 years.