On the chaotic day of September 11, 2001, as New York City was reeling from the devastating terrorist attacks, a Polish immigrant named Henryk Siwiak tragically became the city's only recorded homicide victim that day, a case that remains unsolved. The 46-year-old man, who had moved to the United States to earn money for his family back in Poland, was fatally shot in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn.
Earlier that day, Siwiak had been working at a construction site in Lower Manhattan and was sent home after the attacks on the World Trade Center. Eager to find other work, he took a job at a Pathmark supermarket in a part of Brooklyn he was unfamiliar with.
Just before midnight, Siwiak, dressed in camouflage clothing and speaking very little English, got lost on his way to his new job. He exited the subway at the wrong stop and found himself in a dangerous area. It was on a street corner at Albany Avenue and Decatur Street that he was shot once in the lung. After being wounded, Siwiak staggered to a nearby house and rang the doorbell seeking help, but the resident was too frightened to open the door after hearing the gunfire. He then collapsed on the street and was pronounced dead at the scene when emergency services arrived at 11:42 p.m.
The investigation into Henryk Siwiak's murder was significantly hampered by the diversion of law enforcement resources in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. With the city's focus on the immense tragedy downtown, his death received little immediate attention. To this day, no arrests have been made, and there are no named suspects in the case. Police have considered several theories over the years. One prominent theory is that it was a botched robbery, and Siwiak may not have understood what was happening due to his limited English. Another possibility detectives have considered is that his killer may have mistaken him for someone connected to the day's terror attacks due to his accent and camouflage attire. Despite a reward being offered for information, the case has grown cold, leaving his family in Poland without answers or justice.
