Melvin Collins

Case record: Melvin Collins

Status / outcome

Melvin ("Bad Boy") Collins committed suicide by shooting himself the same day.

Timeline

• Nov. 6, 1948 — The Market Street Massacre took place in Chester, Pa.; Melvin Collins shot and killed a man after an argument, then fired from his front window at people who came to help, killing multiple people before later dying by suicide.
• Nov. 15, 1948 — A Time.com entry described the event as “The End of Bad Boy Collins.”
• Monday, Nov. 15, 1948 — The Time.com reference date for “The End of Bad Boy Collins.”

Background

Melvin (“Bad Boy”) Collins was a 38-year-old migrant worker from Virginia. Anybody in Exmore, Va. would have known that Melvin (“Bad Boy”) Collins was a colored man who might try to blow your head off. He had been in the big house twice for shooting scrapes. Collins had cut his own brother with a knife. Collins left Virginia last month and headed north to Chester, Pa.

The offence

One morning last week, Collins leaned out the window of the second-story furnished room where he had holed up in Chester. A knot of men were standing below. Collins acted “silly” and dropped a dime and called down: “Call the cops.” One of the men picked up the dime and said: “This will get me a cup of coffee.” Collins became crazy mad, reached back, got a .22 rifle, aimed it out the open window, and killed one of the men below him.

After the shooting, Collins fired at everyone in sight, including people leaning out windows and people on the street. He continued shooting and killed six more and wounded three. Only one of the killed was a white man. At some point, Collins also shot and killed a man who had driven to the neighborhood to pick up a man who worked for him and before he knew what was happening he was dead.

A detective named Elery Purnsley was across the street. Collins ran a few steps, pulled out his revolver, and fired. Collins shot back and killed Purnsley too. Purnsley was later described as Chester’s first black police detective.

The Market Street Massacre narrative also described an earlier interaction: Melvin Collins had argued with some small time numbers writer, on the sidewalk in front of his place of residence on Market Street below Third. In the end, Collins shot and killed the man. Collins then fled to his second-floor front room apartment and fired from his front window, killing a couple of people who had come to the aid of the first victim, and then continued to fire at everyone within his vision and range.

In all, eight people were killed and six wounded. The names of the dead and wounded were not known to Lou Warfel.

Investigation and police response

As the incident unfolded, a detective named Elery Purnsley was across the street; after Purnsley arrived, he was shot and killed. Everyone who could fled the area. Some people who had taken shelter behind parked cars were trapped and afraid to move.

Eventually, the police put together a plan to enter the building. The cops came—78 city, county and state policemen. They started shooting revolvers, shotguns, Tommy guns and tear-gas shells into Collins’s window. After they had shot in 20 gas shells, they ran across the street and up the stairs of the rooming house. During the entry, police stormed the building.

Aftermath

During the storming of the building, Collins turned his .22 caliber rife on himself and put a bullet through the roof of his mouth. He was dead when the cops broke down his door.

Other details

Witness recollection

Lou Warfel wrote: “My recollection of the Market Street Massacre.” Warfel stated that the Market Street Massacre took place on Nov. 6, 1948. Warfel was working in the Buten Paint Store at 624 Edgmont Ave. He said that it must have been around nine o’clock in the morning when a customer came in and told us that a sniper was shooting people down in Bethel Court. Warfel described that they kept getting vague, confused reports for the next few hours and that it wasn’t until much later in the day that they found out what had happened.

Warfel also stated that at some point Elery Purnsley arrived on the scene and he was shot and killed, and that everyone who could fled the area, but some people who had taken shelter behind parked cars were trapped, afraid to move. Warfel stated that eventually the police put together a plan to enter the building and described Collins’s suicide during the entry.

People named

• Melvin (“Bad Boy”) Collins — offender; 38-year-old migrant worker from Virginia.
• Elery Purnsley — Chester’s first black police detective who was shot and killed.
• Lou Warfel — witness; worked in the Buten Paint Store at 624 Edgmont Ave.
• A small time numbers writer — victim of the initial sidewalk shooting.
• A man Collins drove to the neighborhood to pick up — killed; described as working for the man Collins drove to pick up.
• “One of the men” below — victim of the first window shot.
• Multiple additional victims — two people who had come to the aid of the first victim; others killed as Collins fired at everyone within his vision and range; total described as eight killed and six wounded overall.
• Collins’s brother — Collins had cut his own brother with a knife.

Quotes (verbatim)

• Collins: “Call the cops.”
• One of the men below: “This will get me a cup of coffee.”
• Lou Warfel: “My recollection of the Market Street Massacre”