Oct. 6, 1922, was a red-letter date in the history of organized crime in Rock Island. The largest gun battle ever waged in the streets of the city ended in the death of John Looney's son, John Connor Looney.

Argus headlines that day screamed across the paper's front page. ``JOHN LOONEY JR. PROBABLY FATALLY WOUNDED IN MARKET SQUARE GUN FIGHT. Bystander Also Felled by Bullets Showered in Front of Sherman Hotel. Panic Caused in Rock Island Business Section by Affray Thought to Have been Climax of an Underworld Feud.''

The gun battle took place at 2 p.m. while hundreds of people were gathered downtown to watch the baseball scoreboard in the front window of The Argus for results of the World Series game between the New York Giants and New York Yankees.

``Scores along the street narrowly escaped the flying bullets,'' The Argus reported. ``The revolver battle started so suddenly, went along so wildly and fiercely, that residents along the block ran for cover. They caught only fleeting glimpses of the participants, and their stories, when the conflict quieted down, were at wide variance,'' The Argus said.

According to Argus accounts, John Looney and his son reached the Sherman Hotel just before 2 p.m. Lawrence Pedigo, an associate of the Looneys and operator of the Sherman Hotel, parked behind the Looneys' car.

Soon, two big, black cars filled with men pulled up opposite the Looney and Pedigo cars in the middle of the street. ``The men stood up, pulled revolvers, and the greatest gun fight in the history of this city, a battle that eclipses the riots of 10 years ago, was on,'' The Argus said.

Mr. Pedigo and Connor Looney were in the street and started toward the hotel lobby. Connor Looney fell, hit by the first shot. According to The Argus, witnesses said he made a futile attempt to use his revolver, which apparently had jammed.

At this point, Albert J. Allguyer of Brooklyn, N.Y., who was in town looking for work, was shot in the abdomen. Argus reports said he started toward the wounded Connor Looney and was shot in the stomach. Mr. Pedigo and John Looney reached the hotel.

``Within a few seconds, bullets poured out of the second-floor windows of the Sherman, and the crowd, which had been attracted at the first volley of shots, swung back as lead whizzed over their heads and the bullets cracked along the pavement,'' said The Argus.

The two big cars, probably out of ammunition, turned and tore up 3rd Avenue with police in pursuit.

Mr. Allguyer was taken to Martin's Cigar Store and stretched out on the floor near the entrance. ``He bled profusely, and his clothing was soon a soggy mass of gore,'' The Argus said.

He told an Argus reporter he had been standing in front of The Argus, watching the scoreboard, when he heard the first shots fired and rushed to the scene of the shooting.

``Bullets were then flying thick and fast,'' he said. ``Before I reached the street in front of the Sherman Hotel, a bullet struck me. I fell to the street. I guess they potted me a good one,'' he said. He was later taken to St. Anthony's Hospital.

Four men were charged in the shooting. George ~``Crimps'' Holsapple was arrested within a few minutes of the shooting, filling the radiator of his car. Also arrested were Dan Drost, former editor of The News, who had been shot in the left arm; George Buckley, a former saloon keeper; and Anthony Billburg, whom The Argus called a ``former saloon man and longtime enemy of the Looney gang,'' although at one time he had been a lieutenant of Looney's. A fifth person with them, Jake Ramser, was never charged.

At the coroner's inquest, John Looney began his testimony in low tones, but could scarcely be heard by the jurors and was asked to speak louder.

He testified that he was sitting in the car; they had stopped at the hotel to get some papers from Mr. Pedigo. As the two cars drove up, Mr. Looney testified, his son said, ``There's Billburg.''

``I saw Billburg and Jake Ramser, and it looked like Ramser was looking right at me,'' Mr. Looney told the coroner's inquest. ``I said, `There's Ramser, look out.' ''

Mr. Looney said he took his revolver from a pocket in the door and put it in his coat. ``I jumped from the car onto the sidewalk, and there I saw it all in front of me. I saw Billburg, Drost and Ramser in the cars. I then said again, `Come, my boy, come.' ''

After jumping to the sidewalk, Connor Looney came around the front of the car, Mr. Looney testified. John Looney ran for the hotel door.

``It seemed like the whole thing was over in 10 seconds,'' Mr. Looney said. ``A volley of shots came, and I reached for the door. The boy fell, and I turned around and shot straight at Drost. The boy started to get up on his feet. Pedigo ran up the stairs and shot through the window. I ran to the boy, who had fallen on the sidewalk with his head facing west. He turned to me and said. `They got me.' He told me who got him.

``When I turned, I saw Billburg. I saw Ramser and Drost on the ground. They all seemed to be firing at me. I saw they had a shotgun and a rifle.''

When asked if he and his son had ever been threatened, Mr. Looney replied, ``There hasn't been a day gone by, hardly, but what I received a threat of some kind.''

The day after the shooting, The Argus reported that Connor Looney, 24, had died of his wounds. It said one bullet had ``pierced the center of (Connor Looney's) abdomen and perforated the intestines 14 times.'' Another bullet fractured a bone in his leg.

``A charge of more than 100 buckshot tore the flesh of his right buttock. The other bullets struck him in the arms,'' The Argus said. His brother-in-law, Frank Hamblin, donated a pint of blood for a transfusion, but it would not save his life.

No charges were filed against John Looney.

``We have several witnesses who say that he was not seen to produce a gun or fire a shot until he was upstairs in the hotel,'' The Argus quoted Rock Island County Sheriff John G. Miller as saying. ``His shooting was in self-defense against an attempt to murder, and he can't be held for that.''

Assistant States Attorney Edward L. Eagle said, ``Everything we have found substantiates the theory that this was a war between two rival factions. Our evidence indicates that the men who manned the two cars from which the shooting came went out with the express purpose of killing Looney and his son, and perhaps Pedigo.''

In the same Oct. 7 issue, The Argus reported that Connor Looney had been made a special police officer, allowing him to carry a badge and a gun. The permit was approved by Mayor Harry M. Schriver.

Also in that day's paper, The Argus asked again, ~``Who killed Bill Gabel?''

According to historical accounts, a group of local businessmen led by Mr. Ramser, a local jeweler, had approached Mr. Billburg about killing John Looney. He was told not to worry, that everything would be taken care of, and that they would never be prosecuted.

Mr. Billburg later tried to implicate some of the businessmen in the shooting of Connor Looney in testimony before the grand jury, but too many others had seen the gunmen. The four were represented by famed lawyer Clarence Darrow but were found guilty anyway.

``Billburg was duped, but he hated Looney anyway,'' said historian Richard Hamer of Rock Island.

Today, even his great-grandchildren, Lynn Cutter-Gronke and Loren Cutter-Giorgio, admit that stories passed down through the family peg Anthony Billburg as the mastermind behind the hit. His gun, which they still have, was the one that fired the fatal bullets at the young Looney, they said.

Mr. Billburg was sentenced to 20 years in prison. The other three received 14-year sentences.

On Monday, Oct. 9, The Argus announced that a Springfield prosecutor from the Illinois Attorney General's Office would investigate the murder of Mr. Gabel. The next day, a force of 25 government agents was in Rock Island, gathering information.

After his son's funeral, Mr. Looney fled to his hometown of Ottawa, about the time of his indictment in the U.S. Court in Peoria for transporting stolen property (automobiles) across state lines. He made Ottawa his headquarters for a short time before moving to Denver and, finally, New Mexico.

On Oct. 26, 1922, all of Mr. Looney's saloons and brothels were closed. Six stills, capable of making 300 gallons of bootleg booze a day, were destroyed several days later. Mr. Looney's home was raided and its arms cache seized. The News ceased publication.

The Looney empire was crumbling around him.

Sunday: The end of the line for John Looney.