The principal headline on Saturday’s Mining Journal front page was short, to the point and oh, so accurate.

“The deadliest day” for the Marquette Police Department had taken place a century earlier, on Aug. 23, 1924, when police Chief Martin Ford, patrolman Thomas Thornton and Ford’s 19-year-old son, Lloyd, were shot and killed in the line of duty.

An excellent story and photo package prepared by Beth Gruber and Rosemary Michelin of the Marquette Regional History Center had details.

The shooter was identified as 20-year-old Oscar Lampinen of Deerton. Lampinen always carried a gun and was known to show off his shooting skills.

Here’s what happened, according to the history center story.

The police had been patrolling Marquette’s downtown alleys more frequently due to a break-in at the Stern and Field’s Clothing Store the previous week.

Thornton made a check of the alley behind the Journal office between Third and Fourth streets. He surprised a man trying to break into Boucher’s Drug Store and told the man to halt.

Shots ensued with a foot chase leading onto the property of Harlow Clark on Fourth Street. Soon more shots were fired.

Officer Walter Tippett and several other people found Thornton on the ground wounded near Harlow’s Wooden Man. He described the assailant as about 5 feet 9 inches tall with a blue suit and a soft brown hat. He died sometime later.

Police Chief Ford, his son Lloyd and Tippett drove over to officers Anderson’s and Betts’ homes to assemble a search party. Ford told his son to go home and get his gun. He returned with a .25 Luger automatic pistol.

After the suspect was spotted walking on the Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway tracks, past the prison and heading to Harvey, the three men followed with Lloyd Ford driving.

They sped to the Lakewood Lane railroad crossing and saw a man walking on the tracks. Lampinen spotted the posse and ran into the woods toward the Chocolay River.

More shots were exchanged and both Fords fell. Tippet killed Lampinen as he attempted to swim across the Chocolay.

If for no other reason, this story about events so long ago is important because it demonstrates that police work has always been dangerous. Lampinen may not have had an AR-style rifle or telescopic sights but he was a crack shot with a pistol and he didn’t mind mixing it up with the police.

We honor MPD’s sacrifice that day and the sacrifice of good cops everywhere.

To some significant degree, it’s a thankless way to make a living.