June 1947. Fifteen year old Ed Bancroft is holding Bill Ronan, of the same age, hostage with a pistol in a Boston alleyway.
Two officers had routinely stopped Bancroft and questioned him about a robbery that had occurred earlier. He immediately pulled out a pistol, shot one of the officers in the arm and fled into a nearby alley, where he grabbed Ronan. Both ends of the alley were quickly blocked off by the police and Bancroft threatened to kill Ronan if they advanced.
'Meanwhile'..Frank Cushing, a photographer for the
Boston Herald had managed to position himself in a house, opposite the alley, and take the photo.
While Bancroft was figuring out his next move, a policeman managed to work his way along on the opposite side of the fence. At the right moment, he stood up behind Bancroft, reached over the fence, and stunned him with the butt of his gun. Situation defused.
As it turned out Bancroft had nothing to do with the robbery which the officers had originally questioned him about.
Cushing's photograph was remarkable because at a time when hostage situations were rare, his photograph showed one actually underway. In addition, the limited lens capabilities of the Speed Graphic, the usual camera of the press photographer, meant that cameramen had to be close to their subjects, which is generally not possible in a hostage situation. Cushing's ingenuity and persistence paid off and resulted in an extraordinary picture.