Officer John Grogan was shot and killed after responding to a robbery call.

On July 3, 1925, Officer Grogan responded to a robbery call on Washington Avenue at the HS Printing Company, at 1531 Washington Avenue, at shortly after 4:00 pm. Officer Grogan, who was nearby, heard the alarm being spread by an employee who fled the scene. He responded to the robbery, and confronted the suspect as they exited an elevator on the first floor. One of the suspects cried out that there's a cop, shoot him and gunfire was exchanged. Officer Grogan sustained a gunshot wound to the heart and one below his right eye. He died at the scene. Harvey Hammett, bystander and brother of a police officer, saw Officer Grogan had been shot and attempted to render aid. Hammet also sustained a fatal gunshot wound to the left side of his chest. He died the next morning at City Hospital.

The suspects expected to find a cash payroll but found the employees had been paid by check and only made off with $40 from the safe and $100 collected from the employees who were forced to throw their money on the floor. The six suspects fled the scene but were apprehended a short time later and identified as Maurice Dougherty, Frank Bird, Fred James, William Kirchoff, James Wider, and Leo Sproull. Five of the robbers were on parole from Boonville.

Officer Grogan had been with the agency for 22 years and was survived by his wife and four children. Interred: Calvary Cemetery and Mausoleum, St Louis, MO.