Officer Geerts was shot on Friday, July 13, 1928, when he attempted to arrest two 16-year-olds he caught burglarizing the Naven Fuel Company. Officer Geerts succumbed to the gunshot wounds Monday, July 16, 1928. Both boys were arrested in Rock Island four days later.

Both suspects had escaped from the Home for Feeble Minded Children at Gleenwood. They were both convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to life in the Fort Madison Penitentiary.

Officer Geerts was 40 years old.

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