In the late summer of 1904, a domestic disturbance call on Falcon Street in East Boston shattered the quiet of a Sunday afternoon and ended the life of a veteran police officer. Alfred Mitchell Sturdivant, a 47-year-old White male, had served with the Boston Police Department for fifteen years, a tenure that came to a violent and tragic close on September 4th of that year.
The incident began when a man frantically reported that his wife had chased him from their home with a pistol.
Officer Sturdivant, along with other officers, responded to the scene. As they attempted to force their way into the residence to apprehend the barricaded woman, she opened fire. Sturdivant was struck by three bullets, his life cut short in the line of duty.
The ensuing standoff was a harrowing affair, with the suspect firing more than forty rounds at the assembled officers. The siege finally came to an end when she exhausted her ammunition and was taken into custody. In the aftermath of the deadly confrontation, Officer Sturdivant was survived by his wife and mother. The woman responsible for his death was ultimately committed to the Worcester Insane Asylum, where she remained until her own death in 1929.
