Murray, attorney William W. O'Brien, and Benjamin Jacobs (an investigator for O'Brien). At four o'clock that afternoon, Weiss and his men left for their State Street headquarters, Schofield's Flowers. The quintet parked their cars on Superior Street and rounded the corner to cross State. As they did, two gunmen hidden in a nearby rooming house opened fire with a submachine gun and shotgun. Weiss and Murray were fatally wounded by this first burst. William O'Brien was hit four times and staggered into a nearby stairwell. At the initial sound of gunfire, a panicked Sam Pellar drew his .38 and instinctively fired a shot in the general direction of shooters (this bullet unintentionally struck Weiss as he collapsed onto the sidewalk). Pellar and Jacobs, both wounded, staggered back the way they had come. Bullets followed them the whole way and some chipped the cornerstone of the Holy Name Cathedral directly across the street. According to the Chicago Police, Jack McGurn was behind the tommy gun that day. Sam “Golf Bag” Hunt, was supporting McGurn from a nearby building, where police found his signature golf bag with a shotgun inside it after the murder. Frank Nitti is credited with masterminding the use of the machine-gun nest in Weiss’ assassination. Weiss is buried at Mount Carmel Cemetery in Hillside, Illinois, the same place as Al Capone and Dean O'Banion. He was succeeded as leader of the North Side gang by Vincent Drucci. In popular culture Weiss and other Prohibition-era mobsters served as the basis for many gangster films of the 1930s. James Cagney, for example, based his character on both Weiss and Chicago gangland figure Dean O'Banion in The Public Enemy (1931). In 2013 and 2014, Weiss is portrayed by Will Janowitz on the third and fourth seasons of Boardwalk Empire. References Further reading External links Hymie Weiss at My Al Capone Museum HymieWeiss.com 1898 births 1926 deaths 1926 murders in the United States People from Chicago People murdered by the Chicago Outfit Murdered American gangsters American people of Polish descent Polish emigrants to the United States Polish Roman Catholics North Side Gang Prohibition-era gangsters American crime bosses People murdered in Illinois Male murder victims Deaths by firearm in Illinois Burials at the Bishop's Mausoleum, Mount Carmel Cemetery (Hillside)