Did you know Union Station is a crime scene?
 Curiosity drives many people to search for the notorious Union Station bullet holes, more than 70 years after the crime. The holes can be found right outside the east entrance. These tiny pits on the Station's wall -- some dispute they're the real deal -- are remnants of a bloody ambush that, in many ways, gave rise to the FBI.
At the time -- June 17, 1933 -- much of the nation was enamored with the bandits who roamed the Midwest, robbing banks and staging daring jail breaks. Often the media glamorized these gangsters' exploits. That all changed on that sunny spring morning in Kansas City.
THE MASSACRE
"Let 'em have it!"
With that, the gunmen, two or possibly three, opened fire as the lawmen emerged from the Station and climbed into their cars. What happened during the next 30 seconds shocked the nation.
The hail of bullets killed four law officers and the prisoner in their custody, convicted murderer Frank Nash. The killings transformed the Station into an "arena of horror," according to The Kansas City Star.
The indiscriminate shooting in such a bustling place outraged the public. J. Edgar Hoover, the leader of a then relatively small federal agency, used the "Union Station Massacre" as a catalyst to build what would become the modern FBI.
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| The aftermath of the Union Station Massacre. |
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