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The other men in the assault team were assigned to their stations, and it was planned that they would hold the West Gallery once Bergen, Stites, and Cochrane had completed the rescue of Officer Bert Burch. It was still unclear whether they would be recovering his corpse or rescuing him alive, since no one knew his true fate. The reserves were mostly seasoned officers. The remaining group was comprised of Lieutenant Frank Johnson, and Officers Alvin Bloomquest, Fred Mahan, Herschel R. Oldham, Fred J. Richberger, and Joe Maxell, who had made the first attempt at entering the gallery with Stites, but had been forced to retreat.

While the guards crouched at the entrance, Bergen made a final review of the plan, and then on cue he carefully swung open the door just enough to allow them passage. As they entered the building they remained cautiously silent, while searching for any visible movement on the cellhouse floor. The interior was mysteriously quiet, and masked with an eerie haze of smoke that clouded the air. The acrid smell of teargas slightly irritated their eyes as they tried to adjust to the dim lighting. As they searched the cellhouse for any sign of the hostages and the escapees, they could see little except broken glass littering the floors, and several of the cells standing open with no movement inside. Bergen and Cochrane advanced steadily to the middle of the gallery, stopping at the stairwell that led up to the middle level. Stites covered the entrance area, and scanned for any sign of movement.

Coy armed with his rifle and Cretzer with his .45 watched the officers make their entry into the gallery. They carefully took aim at the shadows moving down the caged corridor, and then once they had a sure shot, they fired almost in unison. As soon as the shots were discharged, Stites, Bergen and Cochrane instantaneously dropped for cover under a volley of return fire. The officers on the catwalk squeezed into the entrance, and they too started shooting into the cellhouse. A brief gun battle ensued while Bergen and Cochrane made a concerted effort to locate the origin of the gunfire, without success. Meanwhile, the deafening barrage was heard all the way to the city’s shores. Bergen yelled out to Stites to head for the stairs, where they could take cover and secure better positions from which to return fire. As Cochrane attempted to climb the stairs, he was violently struck by a bullet in his right arm. Bergen yelled emphatically to cease fire, and led the reluctant Cochrane back to the entrance. Richberger had also suffered a major gunshot wound to the leg, and in a painful low stance, he limped along the catwalk back to safety. Bert Burch, still tied and unable to move, tried to remain as still as possible to avoid being hit or targeted.

The team quickly regrouped outside the gallery entrance, and Bergen, full of determination, prepared to reenter and take control of the gallery. Bergen and Stites, now followed by the reserve officers, quickly rushed back into the building. Bergen had just begun a feverous search for Burch when the gunfire intensified, causing him to stop and take cover. Bergen and Mahan rushed to the stairwell while Stites and Oldham maintained their positions in the D Block section of the gallery. The gun gallery in the D Block section had an “L” shaped curve that paralleled the south cellblock wall. This section provided an excellent frontal view of the cells and the activity of the inmates. Bergen and Mahan carefully positioned themselves in a low stance, and prepared to return fire into the ghostly haze of smoke. As the reserves fired off piston-like bursts of gunfire into the cellblock, the assault team quickly navigated the stairwell, hoping to locate and extricate Officer Burch. Suddenly and without warning, while Stites was slowly advancing along the south wall of the gun gallery, he was struck by a bullet and fatally wounded.

A diagram hand drawn by Lieutenant Phil Bergen, showing the key event locations.