Corporal Frederick Holmes Cook

Frederick Holmes Cook

Corporal Frederick Cook was shot and killed in a shootout with five armed robbery suspect at the Presidio.

Officers had chased the five suspects 40 blocks through San Francisco at approximately 1:30 A.M., with gunfire exchanged during the high speed chase. When the suspects' car collided with the Presidio wall, four of the suspects were thrown from the car and over the wall.

As police approached the wreckage, the fifth suspect opened fire from behind the car and his first shot struck Corporal Cook in the abdomen. Corporal Cook was able to return fire, killing one suspect. The four accomplices escaped.

Three weeks later they shot and killed Patrolman Lawrence Kost of the Seattle Police Department as they were robbing a drug store.

In March of 1916, one of the suspects was arrested when he sought medical attention for a gunshot wound at a Los Angeles hospital. He was shot when he attempted to rob a cafe. He told officials two were in San Quintin serving terms for robberies committed in Los Angeles. The fourth suspect was in jail in San Francisco. He said that he, the other three, were responsible for killing Patrolman Lawrence Kost of the Seattle Police Department on December 12, 1915. After the murder of Kost they returned to San Francisco where they shot and killed a man after the broke into his home. During the last six months they had committed 11 holdups in Seattle, San Francisco, Sacramento, and Los Angeles. They had stolen several cars. He said he was not the killer of the three, and only one of the four killed all three. In 1917 he was convicted of robbery and sentenced to 25 years in San Quentin.

In 1917 the other three were convicted of murder and sentenced to life in San Quentin. One, 22, was paroled March 29, 1939.

Corporal Cook died two days later, almost one month short of his 42nd birthday.

Corporal Cook had served with the San Francisco Police Department for eight years. He was survived by his wife, two daughters, and one son.