Officer Bernard Cook was shot and killed when he attempted to question two suspicious men loitering in front of the Ely-Walker Company at 1410 North Sixteenth Street. Officer Cook was assigned to the location every Friday at 1445 hours to provide a police presence as checks were distributed at a local factory. While at the post he noticed the two suspicious men and walked up to them. As he did so the two tried to walk away. When Officer Cook called out to them one of the men turned and fired two shots from a revolver, striking Officer Cook in the arm and heart. Although mortally wounded, Officer Cook was able to return fire as he sank to one knee, shooting five times, but the shots did not strike the suspects. Neither man was ever apprehended.

Officer Cook had been with the agency for eight months. Interred: Saint Denis Cemetery, Shipman, IL.