Town Crier III – Easter Massacre

April 2nd, 2008

With the month of April upon us I want to reflect back on an incident that took place in Pullman in 1949. April 17th, 1949 to be exact — Easter Sunday. It would become known as the Pullman Easter Massacre, an event that made national news some 59 years ago.

When the dust settled and the smoke cleared there were five dead — the Sheriff, a Deputy Sheriff, a Pullman Police Officer, a taxi driver, and the shooter.

Karl Heuterman, a WSU student in the 1980’s, has researched this incident for many years. Much of my knowledge came from Heuterman, with additional information found in the Pullman Herald, Daily Evergreen, and Spokesman Review. There is a two-hour interview with Heuterman about the Easter Massacre that can be downloaded from: http://radioblog.thepes.com/2006/04/easter-massacre.html.

Heuterman‘s interview was on The PES, a local talk show. The interview covers the events leading to the incident, the incident, and information discovered after the incident.

It started when the shooter, George McIntyre, was wanted on a warrant for an assault charge. McIntyre and his family had made a trip to Moscow Mountain, with plans to head to Colfax. On the way, McIntyre needed to purchase some fuel and stopped at a gas station that was located where Beasley Realty sits today.

Pullman Police Officer Ross Claar saw McIntyre and attempted to make an arrest on the warrant. McIntyre pulled out a gun then shot and killed Claar. He left his family at the gas station and drove home. At the time he lived near NW Ritchie and NW Harrison behind the current location of Snap Fitness.

He grabbed a rifle, a pair of binoculars, and went across Grand Avenue and up the hillside towards Maple Street Ext behind the Cougar Country Drive-In.

The sheriff and a deputy were radioed about the shooting and drove to Pullman. When Deputy Sheriff Gilbert Gallagher arrived in Pullman, he drove towards McIntyre’s house. He stopped a distance from the house and saw McIntyre’s vehicle and a man matching the description of McIntyre near the house.

Gallagher drove down Railroad Ave which is located at the base of the hill under Maple Street Ext. He got out and went around the car to the side facing the hill, using his car as cover. Gallagher didn’t know, however, that McIntyre was actually on the hillside. He was killed with a shot to the back.

By this time people were starting to go to the area where the shooting was taking place. Taxi driver Earnest Buck was one of these people. McIntyre had Buck stand on the edge of the hill where he was then shot and killed. One other Pullman resident survived being shot.

Soon thereafter, Sheriff Pete Parnell and Deputy Sheriff Jim Hickman drove towards the house. Not knowing where McIntyre was, Parnell stepped from his patrol car. McIntyre, a sniper during WWII, shot across a then-two-lane Grand Ave instantly killing Parnell. Hickman was shot and injured.

By this time more and more people were coming to help capture McIntyre. As McIntyre was getting surrounded by Washington State Patrol and Pullman citizens, he committed suicide. He used a bolt-action rifle to shoot himself in the heart three times.

That was the end of what became known as the Easter Massacre. In the years since this incident Heuterman has researched and revealed many of the back stories about why a family man and recent military GI would go on a shooting spree.

Some Pullman residents, who knew McIntyre as a Boy Scout leader, were shocked. They felt he was a good man who wouldn’t do something like this. Others who had run-ins with McIntyre were not surprised. They felt he had a short temper and was known as a hot head.

In most situations the truth is somewhere in the middle of the two extremes. No matter who is correct about McIntyre, the fact remains he is responsible for the death of four people on that Easter afternoon.

To continue with my last Town Crier column, the countdown is still going and we are at T-114.


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