On the night of December 31, 1972, a 19-year-old Black male named Alfred Harrell was on duty as a New Orleans Police Department cadet. At approximately 10:55 p.m., while working at the gate of the Central Lockup, Harrell was struck by a sniper's bullet. The shot was fired from a. 44 caliber carbine from a field about 280 feet away. Tragically, Cadet Harrell was scheduled to end his shift just five minutes later.
He had been with the police department for less than a year and was survived by his wife and a 9-month-old son.
The sniper, later identified as Mark Essex, continued his violent spree. Minutes after shooting Harrell, Essex shot Sergeant Edwin Hosli, who was investigating a warehouse alarm nearby; Hosli later died from his wounds on March 5, 1973. The wave of terror did not end there. On January 7, 1973, Essex was responsible for the deaths of Deputy Superintendent Louis Sirgo, Patrolman Paul Persigo, and Patrolman Philip Coleman during a siege at a downtown Howard Johnson hotel, where he had also set fires and shot at civilians.
The investigation and subsequent events quickly led to the identification of Mark Essex as the sole perpetrator of this string of deadly attacks. Described as a member of the Black Panthers, Essex's rampage culminated in a dramatic and fatal confrontation with law enforcement. In order to neutralize the threat he posed at the hotel, the police utilized a Marine helicopter to fly over the building and fire upon him. Mark Essex was shot and killed during this confrontation, bringing an end to his deadly assault on the city.
