John Dillinger and the Crown Point Escape of 1934: The Wooden Gun That Changed American Policing

On 03rd March, 1934, the most famous fugitive in America walked calmly out of a jail that had been publicly declared escape proof. He locked the guards in their own cells, secured real machine guns, and drove away in the sheriff’s car. According to his later claim, he did it with a wooden pistol. The escape of John Dillinger from the Lake County Jail in Crown Point, Indiana, was more than an audacious stunt. It marked a turning point in the national manhunt that followed, reshaped the...