In the early hours of May 19, 1997, a decorated ten-year veteran of the New York City Police Department, Officer Anthony Sanchez, responded to a call that would tragically be his last. The 31-year-old male officer was dispatched to a luxury apartment building on West 17th Street in Manhattan following a 911 call reporting an armed robbery in progress.
The suspect, it would later be revealed, was attempting to rob his own father.
Upon arrival at the scene with his partner and other officers, a search of the building commenced. Officer Sanchez took up a position in a stairwell to cut off the suspect's potential escape route. It was in the narrow confines of the stairwell, between the ninth and tenth floors, that Officer Sanchez confronted the armed suspect. An exchange of gunfire ensued, and Officer Sanchez was fatally struck in the neck. Despite being mortally wounded, he tried to make his way down the stairs but collapsed on the third-floor landing. The suspect was also wounded in the exchange.
The suspect, identified as Scott Schniederman, was apprehended by other officers in the basement of the building. Officer Sanchez was rushed to St. Vincent's Medical Center, but his injuries proved to be too severe, and he succumbed to them. His death sent ripples of grief through the city and the police department, where he was remembered as a dedicated and heroic officer who had received fifteen departmental medals for his service. He was survived by his wife and their seven-year-old son.
Scott Schniederman was subsequently convicted on three counts of first-degree murder for the death of Officer Anthony Sanchez. On January 15, 1998, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Schniederman later died in prison in 2002. In a lasting tribute to Officer Sanchez's sacrifice, the street outside the 13th Precinct on East 21st Street was renamed 'Police Officer Anthony Sanchez Way.'
