Police Station Bombing, 1970

Police Station Bombing, 1970
On February 2, 1970, 21 year-old Shaker Heights resident Martin Berns walked into the Shaker Heights Police Station on Lee Road, just north of City Hall, carrying a bomb concealed in a package. Without warning, the bomb went off, killing Berns, injuring over a dozen people, and completely leveling the building, which also contained the area's Municipal Court.

Minutes earlier, Berns had shot and wounded his former psychiatrist at the man's home on Fernway Road. The psychiatrist had had Berns institutionalized five years earlier. The Shaker Heights police had escorted Berns to the psychiatric hospital then, leading some to speculate that this was the reason for the bombing.

The city eventually built a new police station and Municipal Court across the street, on the east side of Lee Road.

Image courtesy of Shaker Heights Public Library Local History Collection
Download Original File