Mystery Shooting at the Washington National Bank
A bank accountant is found with a gunshot wound to the chest, but the circumstances behind the incident remain disturbingly unclear.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
This morning about 8 o'clock the hackmen standing on the northeast corner of Second and Cherry streets were startled by the report of a pistol in the Washington National bank. A moment afterward a young man staggered out of the bank and fell on the stone walk. He exclaimed: 'I'm shot!' Another young man, identified as a friend named Beals, hurried out of the bank and found his friend in a swoon, and with the assistance of the hackmen brought the wounded young man to Dr. Heliker's office in the Hinckley building. It was learned that the young man's name was Charles Leonhardt, an accountant at the Washington National bank. Beals stated: 'We were busy with accounts, and suddenly I heard a report. Then Charley got up from his desk and said: I believe I have shot myself. It was entirely accidental.' The pistol with which Leonhardt shot himself is a 32 caliber. The ball entered the left breast, above the nipple, ranged through the lung, and lodged in the back. The doctor did not think the wound was necessarily fatal. However, it appeared to the doctors that the young man could not very well shoot himself as he did accidentally. If it was with suicidal intent that the shot was fired the causes are not known, for he was non-committal on the subject. It was also said both young men had been drinking previous to the shooting.
“It appeared to the doctors that the young man could not very well shoot himself as he did accidentally.”
Bank violence and workplace accidents are rare, but the confusion surrounding the incident—and the mention of alcohol consumption—points to the era's lack of rigorous workplace safety standards. The intersection of Second and Cherry remains a central hub in downtown Seattle, though the Washington National Bank has long since vanished.
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