Bernard Coy
Encyclopedia
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
, on May 2, 1946 which turned into a bloody two day armed confrontation
Battle of Alcatraz
The Battle of Alcatraz, which lasted from May 2–4, 1946, was the result of an unsuccessful escape attempt at Alcatraz Island Federal Penitentiary. Two guards—William A. Miller and Harold Stites—were killed along with three of the inmates. Eleven guards and one convict were also injured...
leaving Coy, two fellow would be escapers and two prison guards dead.
Coy was a native of Kentucky who turned to crime during the Depression and in 1937 was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment. He was transferred to Alcatraz from Atlanta in 1938 and was later given the position of cell-house orderly which allowed him access through most of the main cell-block on Alcatraz. This relative freedom allowed him to spot a tiny flaw in one of the prison's security features, the bars of the gun-gallery overlooking the cell house. Coy along with Joe Cretzer
Joseph Paul Cretzer
Joseph Paul Cretzer was an American bank robber and prisoner at Alcatraz who participated in and was slain in the bloody "Battle of Alcatraz" which took place following a failed escape attempt between May 2 and May 4, 1946.-Criminal career:Cretzer started his criminal...
, Marvin Hubbard, Sam Shockley
Sam Shockley
Richard Sam Shockley Jr. was an inmate at Alcatraz prison who participated in the Battle of Alcatraz in 1946....
, Miran Thompson
Miran Edgar Thompson
Miran Edgar Thompson was an inmate of Alcatraz whose participation in an attempted escape on May 2, 1946 led to his execution in the gas chamber of San Quentin. At the time of the Battle of Alcatraz, Thompson was serving life plus 99 years for kidnapping, and for the murder of Amarillo, Texas...
, and Clarence Carnes
Clarence Carnes
Clarence Victor Carnes known as The Choctaw Kid was a Choctaw Indian famous as the youngest inmate sentenced to Alcatraz, and for his participation in the bloody escape attempt known as the "Battle of Alcatraz".-Early life:Clarence Carnes was born in Daisy, Oklahoma, the oldest of five children...
planned to break into the gun galleries to steal weapons, take hostages and then flee to the dock. He was successful in creating a makeshift bar-spreader that enabled him to get through the relatively weak bars that protected the gun galleries and overpower the unsuspecting guard on his return from investigating a fabricated incident caused by Shockley in the prison's secure unit, D-Block.
The prisoners now had one Springfield rifle
Springfield Rifle
The term Springfield Rifle may refer to any one of several types of small arms produced by the Springfield Armory in Springfield, Massachusetts, for the United States armed forces....
, one .45 automatic handgun but the most important item supposed to be held in the cage was the key to the yard door of the prison from which the convicts expected to make their way to the island's dock to seize the prison's boat. However, Bill Miller, one of the nine guards held hostage in two cells had, contrary to regulations, held on to the yard door key to let out kitchen staff without having to disturb the gallery guard at lunch instead of returning it to the gun gallery. The escape attempt was thus foiled inadvertently as although the prisoners eventually found the key following a search of the captive guards and cells, the door would not open because it had been jammed by trying the lock with different keys.
The escapees held several guards hostage and as there was no hope of negotiating, the struggle between the prison authorities and the group of prisoners turned into a violent stand-off, that became known as the Battle of Alcatraz
Battle of Alcatraz
The Battle of Alcatraz, which lasted from May 2–4, 1946, was the result of an unsuccessful escape attempt at Alcatraz Island Federal Penitentiary. Two guards—William A. Miller and Harold Stites—were killed along with three of the inmates. Eleven guards and one convict were also injured...
or "Alcatraz Blastout". After two days, the guards regained control of the prison and the body of Coy was found in a utility corridor along with those of Cretzer and Hubbard.