On the early morning of May 29, 1995, Special Agent William H. Christian, Jr., a 49-year-old male, was part of a dedicated team of 27 investigators conducting a stakeout in the parking lot of Greenbelt Middle School in Maryland. The decorated 20-year veteran of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who had served in Baltimore and Detroit before joining the Washington Field Office, was closing in on a dangerous fugitive. Little did he know, this mission would be his last.
The target of this extensive surveillance operation was Ralph McLean, a man wanted in connection with a series of violent attacks on law enforcement officers in the District of Columbia and Prince George's County.
The law enforcement team had received intelligence that McLean was planning to meet a former girlfriend in the Greenbelt area. As the agents and officers lay in wait, the hunter became the hunted. In a brazen and cowardly act, McLean managed to sneak up on Agent Christian's vehicle. Just before 1:00 a.m., he ambushed the unsuspecting agent, firing multiple shots through the car window. The attack was chillingly similar to the murder of Prince George's County Police Corporal John Novabilski, who had been killed in his patrol car just a month prior.
Immediately following the shooting, a pursuit of McLean ensued as other agents and officers at the scene engaged him. McLean fled to a nearby parking garage, where a gun battle with law enforcement erupted. Surrounded and with no escape, McLean took his own life with a gunshot to the head. At the scene, investigators recovered two firearms from McLean: the MAC-11 assault pistol used to kill Agent Christian and the service weapon that had been stolen from Corporal Novabilski after his murder.
The investigation revealed that Ralph McLean, 29, of Landover, harbored a deep-seated hatred for the police, which appeared to be the primary motive for his violent rampage against law enforcement officers. His death brought an end to a violent spree that had shaken the Washington area law enforcement community. Special Agent William H. Christian, Jr., a U.S. Army veteran, was survived by his wife and children. His ultimate sacrifice is remembered on the FBI's Wall of Honor.
