Ma Barker
Barker-Karpis Gang
Barker-Karpis Gang
In 1931, Fred (the youngest son of Ma Barker) was released from prison with Alvin Karpis. The two men returned to the Ma Barker's house where they became partners in crime. They created the Barker-Karpis gang in 1931. Fred's three brothers also joined the gang, along with a few other men. Ma Barker supported and approved of this new gang, and offered her shack in Tulsa, Oklahoma as a hideout for the boys.
Barker-Karpis Gang Activities
Between 1931 and 1935 at least fourteen robberies or attempted robberies had been committed by this gang. During this same time period, at least eighteen people were killed, and two people were kidnapped by various people in the Barker-Karpis gang.
Ma Barker
Ma Barker, the alleged leader of the group, helped the boys before and after they committed a crime. She was identified by the polices as an accomplice, but there is no evidence that she committed any crimes herself.
- She was a wanted women in Texas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Kansas in early 1932. But there is no evidence that she committed any crimes herself.
- The police were wiling to by twelve hundred dollars if the Barker-Karpis gang was caught, but there was not a price specifically placed on her head.
Death of Ma Barker
Now that the police were searching for the Barker-Karpis gang, Ma and her son Fred escaped to a house in Florida. The FBI quickly found the house in Oklawaha, Florida where the two were staying, and a shootout between the FBI and the two gang-members began. The FBI fired over 2,000 rounds into the house, and when Ma and her son ran out of bullets, as they were trying to fight back, their lives violently ended. The two died on January 16, 1935 in Oklawaha, Florida. They were found lying sided by side, dead, on the top floor of their house after the shootout.
House in Oklawaha, Florida
This is where Ma and Fred Barker were killed.
Inside of House
This is a picture taken inside the house showing the amount of bullet holes created from the shootout.
House Today
This is what the house looks like today.