A 1933 machine-gun ambush that killed four lawmen and changed federal law — the bronze plaque still marks where the bodies fell.
30 W Pershing Rd, Kansas City, MO 64108
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free to view the exterior marker. Union Station interior and Science City museum have separate admission.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Paved plaza and sidewalk; marker is at ground level outside the southeast entrance
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1914 · Kansas City Massacre — June 17, 1933 · Deaths of four lawmen including FBI Agent Raymond Caffrey · Prompted FBI authority to carry firearms and make arrests · Pretty Boy Floyd — attributed triggerman (disputed) · Union Station — 1914 Beaux Arts landmark
Frank Nash had been recaptured in Hot Springs, Arkansas, on June 16, 1933, and a party of federal agents and local police were transporting him by train to Leavenworth. The group arrived at Kansas City Union Station the following morning and walked Nash to a waiting car in the south parking lot.
At approximately 7:20 am, gunmen opened fire. FBI Special Agent Raymond Caffrey was killed. Three other lawmen died: Kansas City Police Chief of Detectives W.J. 'Red' Grooms, Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation agent Frank Smith, and McAlester, Oklahoma, Police Chief Otto Reed. Nash himself was also killed in the firefight, struck by a bullet — possibly from his would-be rescuers — making the rescue attempt a catastrophic failure.
The FBI under J. Edgar Hoover launched an extensive investigation. The Bureau credited the primary triggerman role to Vernon Miller, a former South Dakota sheriff turned bank robber who was killed in a gangland dispute in November 1933. The FBI also officially named Charles 'Pretty Boy' Floyd and Adam Richetti as participants, though Floyd denied involvement until his death in October 1934. Richetti was convicted and executed in 1938. The attribution to Floyd specifically remains disputed by historians, but the FBI's official position has not changed.
The political fallout was immediate. Hoover used the massacre to lobby Congress for expanded federal authority, and within weeks Congress passed legislation granting FBI agents permanent power to carry guns and make arrests — authority the Bureau had previously lacked. The Kansas City Massacre is credited as the pivotal event that transformed the Bureau of Investigation into the modern FBI.
A 1991 bronze plaque funded by former FBI agents was installed outside the station's southeast entrance to mark the site. The limestone exterior near the shooting location is pointed out by guides as bearing marks consistent with the 1933 gunfire, though the attribution has not been formally verified.
Sources
Union Station operated as a major rail hub through the 1950s but declined sharply with passenger train ridership through the 1960s and 1970s. By the 1980s it sat largely vacant, a 850,000-square-foot Beaux Arts building empty except for a handful of tenants. The derelict period generated its own ghost reports — the combination of architectural grandeur, abandonment, and the 1933 massacre in the parking lot made the building a natural subject for local legend.
A multi-year restoration effort reopened the station in 1999 as a mixed-use entertainment and museum destination. The heavy foot traffic of the restored station has quieted most of the paranormal claims that accumulated during the vacancy years, but the southeast entrance area — where the massacre marker stands — is occasionally cited by visitors who describe a vague sense of weight or unease that they connect to the 1933 killings.
The marble and limestone interior of the Grand Hall, with its 95-foot barrel-vaulted ceiling, has the quality of a space that absorbs history. Rail workers who staffed the station during its active decades left accounts of unusual sounds on the upper floors at night, though these predate the massacre and are not specifically connected to it. The parking lot where the shooting occurred has been reconfigured multiple times since 1933 and no physical trace of the event remains except the 1991 bronze marker.
Notable Entities
A 1991 bronze memorial plaque installed by former FBI agents stands outside the southeast entrance of Union Station marking the site of the June 17, 1933 ambush. The limestone exterior near the south doors is said to retain marks attributed to the gunfire. The building's grand Beaux Arts facade and the parking area where the shooting occurred are freely accessible.
The restored Kansas City Union Station interior includes retail, dining, and the Science City museum. The station's history — including its role in the 1933 massacre — is referenced in interpretive displays. The full building restoration completed in 1999 returned the 1914 Beaux Arts structure to public use.
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