In the early morning hours of April 13, 1988, Police Officer Anthony Oswald McLean, a 27-year-old male, was on duty in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn. A United States Army veteran who had served with the elite Special Forces, McLean had been with the New York City Housing Authority Police Department for just under three years. That night, he and his partner were tasked with a seemingly routine assignment: to search buildings in the Samuel J.
Tilden Housing Development for a ten-year-old girl who had been reported missing.
At approximately 1:45 a.m., Officer McLean and his partner entered one of the buildings on Dumont Avenue and began a methodical search, starting from the top floor and working their way down. As McLean descended a stairwell, he tragically stumbled upon criminal activity on the second floor. Before he could react, one of the men involved opened fire. A single bullet struck Officer McLean in the neck, just above his protective vest. His partner heard the gunshots and rushed to his aid, calling for immediate assistance. McLean was rushed to Brookdale Hospital, but he succumbed to his injuries less than two hours later. The young girl they had been searching for was later found safe at the home of a family member.
The man who fired the fatal shot fled the scene, sparking an intense manhunt. A month later, the suspect was apprehended in Philadelphia. The investigation revealed that at the time of Officer McLean's murder, the suspect was on parole for a murder he had committed in 1979. In 1989, he was convicted of the first-degree murder of Officer Anthony McLean and was sentenced to a minimum of 120 years in prison. Officer McLean was survived by his fiancée, who was a NYC Corrections Officer, as well as his parents and four brothers.
