īoarman was hit by gunfire and floated in the water unconscious, supported by Brest. One of the overpowered guards managed to get his whistle loose and the other managed to slip his gag and blow the first guard's whistle, alerting the tower guards who opened fire on the prisoners. They then overpowered two guards and bound and gagged them, then escaped out the window, leaving behind two of the four cans. James Boarman (Janu– April 14, 1943), Harold Martin Brest (Janu– May 31, 1979), Floyd Garland Hamilton (J– July 24, 1984), and Fred John Hunter (Octo– November 30, 1982), managed to cut window bars in the industries building's mat shop without being noticed and assemble four cans that contained army uniforms and could serve as flotation devices. He jumped into the water and tried swimming to San Francisco, but quickly gave up the attempt. John Richard Bayless (– July 30, 1981) was working on the garbage detail and managed to elude the guards and reach the Alcatraz shore. Both Cretzer and Shockley would try to escape again in the Battle of Alcatraz. The tool-proof bars foiled the attempt and they surrendered when this became apparent. Joe Cretzer, Sam Shockley, Arnold Kyle, and Lloyd Barkdoll were working in the industries area when they jumped the guards on duty and attempted to saw through window bars to reach the shore. Barker was killed, Stamphill was wounded, and the others were sent to solitary confinement. As they were putting a makeshift raft together, they were spotted and fired on by a guard in a watch tower. Thomas Limerick also died.Īrthur 'Doc' Barker, William Martin, Rufus McCain, Henri Young, and Dale Stamphill were inmates of the prison's supposedly most-secure unit, D-Block, when they managed to escape the cell house and reach the Alcatraz shore on the night of Janu(Friday). Officer Cline died of his injuries the next day. Lucas was cornered and surrendered to the guards. Lucas (Prisoner AZ224) attacked and killed a guard with a claw hammer in the woodwork shop in the industries building and then proceeded to the roof, where an armed guard shot Franklin and Limerick. Rufus Franklin (Prisoner AZ263), Thomas R. However, they were listed as #1 and #2 on the FBI Most Wanted List. The two jumped into the water and were never seen again, but the severe weather conditions at the time have led to a consensus that they drowned in the bay and their bodies were swept out to sea by the strong current in San Francisco Bay. Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe (Prisoners AZ258 (Cole) and AZ260 (Roe)) had gradually filed through iron bars in the prison's mat shop in the industries building and escaped on a very foggy day, preventing them from being spotted by guards in the watch towers. However, regardless of Bowers' initial motive, it is indisputable that Bowers ignored the guards' forceful signals to halt and he kept climbing even after the guards began firing, such that he fell on the outside of the fence. The incident termed Bowers' 'Desperate Escape' was variously deemed by inmates to have been an actual escape attempt, a deliberate suicide (Bowers had made multiple suicide attempts, and was deemed by some prisoners to be criminally insane), an attempt to climb up to grab garbage wedged in the chain link fence (Bowers was assigned to the garbage incinerator detail), or an attempt to climb the fence to feed a seagull. He was seriously injured in the fall from over 15 m (50 ft) and consequently died. When he was caught in this act and refused orders of the correctional officer located at the West Road guard tower to come down, he was shot. He was working burning garbage at the island's incinerator during duty hours when he suddenly ran and began scaling a chain link fence at the edge of the island in an apparent attempt to make for the shore. The first attempt to escape the prison was made on April 27, 1936, by Joseph Bowers (Prisoner AZ210), who was assigned the duty of burning trash at the incinerator. Citing these facts, as well as occasional visits from great white sharks and razor-sharp rocks, prison officers had discouraged most escape attempts. The seasonal water temperature in the San Francisco Bay is about 53 ☏ (12 ☌) in December and the current can exceed 6 knots. It had seemed impossible to escape from Alcatraz by swimming.

Escape from alcatraz