A Painful Escape
While Coulter and Nails were battling it out with Van Meter, Dillinger opened his door just wide enough to stick the barrel of his Thompson submachine gun into the hallway and spray it with bullets. Cummings took cover around a corner, returning fire. A shot hit Dillinger, who was already recovering from a bullet wound, in the leg. The wounded Dillinger and Frechette, taking advantage of the melee, escaped down the back stairs.
Frechette retrieved a car while Dillinger continued the gunfight. He hopped in, and they drove to the clinic of Dr. Clayton May in Minneapolis. Dillinger and Frechette stayed four days while his leg healed. They left for upper Michigan, where they would lay low until their next exposure at the Little Bohemia Lodge in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, scene of an infamous shootout with FBI agents.
