1948: Frank Cushing – “Boy Gunman and Hostage.” In June 1947, Frank Cushing sat in his car outside a restaurant, waiting to photograph robbery victims. Then Cushing heard an alert coming from the radio of a parked police car. A shooting had taken place just down the street. Two police officers had stopped 15 year old Ed Bancroft and questioned him about the robbery. Suddenly the boy pulled a pistol and started shooting. He shot one policeman in the arm and fled to an alley, where he grabbed a hostage, another 15 year old named Bill Ronan. The police blocked the ends of the alley to cut off Bancroft’s escape, but he threated to shoot Ronan if the police came closer. He fired several times at police and repeatedly shoved the gun into Ronan’s back. Eventually, there were about 30 police in the area. One of them worked his way along the fence to a spot where Bancroft was making his stand. The cop stood up behind Bancroft, reached over the fence, and hit him with the butt of a weapon. The dazed youth, who had nothing to do with the robbery, was taken into custody.