Hans Roedder Shot Himself

                                                          When the Officers Cornered Him Last Night.

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                                                                      AMERICAN AND NO GOOD

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                                                                Was the Remark He Made About
                                                             the Revolver which Failed to Kill Him.

                                                          _________________________________

As was exclusively related in the Argus of last week, Marshal Gerstner and his deputies, acting upon advices from Grand Rapids, were hot on the trail of Hans Roedder, who is wanted there for the larceny of 25 bicycles.

So intact a web had the police force and sheriff's force woven about the young high school student that it was impossible for him to escape unless he cheated justice by taking his own life and, preferring death to arrest, Hans Roedder placed the revolver to his head and pulled the trigger.

He had the nerve, but lacked the deliberativeness, to carry out his intention, for, instead of the ball crashing through his head, it simply passed in under the skull bone and unless inflammation sets in or the reaction from the shock is not too great, he will live to meet the charge against him in Grand Rapids.

It was las Sunday when Marshal Gerstner went to Roedder's rooms to arrest him. 
The young man became suspicious and escaped out the back way.
Marshal Gerstner immediately notified the surrounding towns and cities and a close watch was kept on the railroads.
Roedder, however, was too sharp to venture where he would surely be caught, and , under the cover of the night, went into the country just outside of the limits of Ann Arbor and remained there until Thursday night.

His brother, Prof. Roedder, had just returned from Germany, and Hans came into the city stealthily last night for a last interview with him before making a break for a place where the officers could not find him. He went to his brother's rooms and remained closeted with him for ten minutes.

Just what passed between the men in their conversation is not known.

It is probable that Hans meant to borrow the necessary funds with which to get away. But it is known that his brother, who believed the young man innocent at the time of his arrest here last June, came to the conclusion that Hans was either crazy on the subject of stealing bicycles or that the law takes its course.

No hope was held out to Hans by his brother, and despairingly he left the house.

In the meantime the officers received the tip that Hans Roedder had been seen entering the house on E. Washington st., where his brother rooms, and "Doc" Collins immediately hastened there. This officer supposed that Hans was still in the house, and decided to station himself behind a clump of bushes on the lot opposite the house he was watching so as so capture Hans just as soon as he issued forth.
But it seems that Hans had come out just as "Doc" came up the street and the young man dodged down into the cellar off from which a house had recently been moved.

The scene of this hide-and-go-seek party is about a hundred feet west of State st. on Washington st.

"Doc" Collins stood hidden for about ten minutes while the game he was hunting was crouched in the cellar not 30 feet away.

Marshal Gerstner and Deputy Gillen had heard of the tip a short time after "Doc" Collins and took a hand in the search. They went to Prof. Roedder's rooms and were informed that Hans had left there about ten minutes before and had gone across the road. Prof. Roedder came out with the officers, and bagged the game. His mistake was soon rectified, and the officers commenced a general search on the vacant lots across the way.

Marshal Gerstner turned on his dark lantern and commenced peering into dark places. He reached the cellar way and flashed it into a corner.

A bright revolver glistened in the light as Hans Roedder pulled it up. Mr. Gerstner naturally thought that the young man, driven to desperation, intended to shoot his pursuers.

"Here," said the officer without a flinch," you don't want to do anything like that"

As soon as the words were finished, there was a loud report and Hans Roedder had sunk back on the ground.
It was his own life that he had intended to take. 
The bullet entered the head just over the right eye, and passed along under the bone.

Marshal Gerstner jumped down into the excavation and picking up the smoking revolver said:" It's a thirty-eight calibre."

"No, it isn't" said the wounded man, raising himself up, "It's a forty-four American bull dog. It's American make, and it's no good."

Young Roedder stood up and with the help of the officers climbed out of the cellar.

An ambulance was summoned and he was placed in as quiet a position on the grass as possible. When the ambulance arrived he got into the vehicle unassisted and was driven to the University hospital, where an operation was performed upon him last night.