Mark Essex 1972–1973 Sniper Rampage
Early Life and Motive
Mark James Robert Essex was born August 12, 1949, in Emporia, Kansas. He served in the U.S. Navy as a dental technician but experienced racial harassment while enlisted. He received a general discharge in February 1971 for “character and behavior disorders.” His anti-white and anti-police views deepened, motivated in part by the November 1972 shooting of two Black students in Baton Rouge by police.
Shootings – December 31, 1972
On New Year’s Eve, December 31, 1972, Essex parked near New Orleans Police Department headquarters on Perdido Street. He ambushed police during shift change using a Ruger .44 Magnum carbine and a Colt .38 revolver:
- Cadet Alfred Harrell (19) – killed.
- Lieutenant Horace Perez – wounded (ankle injury).
Essex then fled, triggering further violence that led to the death of Officer Edwin Hosli Sr. (shot later after he entered a warehouse Essex broke into). Hosli succumbed on March 5, 1973.
Shootings – January 7, 1973
On January 7, 1973, Essex initiated a second spree in New Orleans that culminated in a rooftop standoff at the Howard Johnson’s Hotel downtown. He fatally shot or wounded numerous individuals.
- Joseph Perniciaro (grocery store owner) – wounded (shot in shoulder).
- Dr. Robert Steagall (28, hotel guest) – killed (shot in chest).
- Elizabeth Steagall (25, wife, hotel guest) – killed (shot in head).
- Frank Schneider (62, assistant manager) – killed.
- Walter Sherwood Collins (56, general manager) – killed.
- Officer Phillip Coleman (26) – killed.
- Officer Paul Arlynn Persigo (33) – killed.
- Deputy Superintendent Louis Sirgo (48) – killed.
- Robert Beamish (43, hotel guest) – wounded (shot in abdomen; survived).
- Patrolman Charles Arnold (27) – wounded (face).
- Officer Lawrence Arthur (31) – wounded (side).
- New Orleans firefighter Joseph Anderson – wounded (arm).
- Patrolman Michael Burl (24) – suffered smoke inhalation and other injuries.
- Patrolman Robert Childress (33) – smoke inhalation.
- Deputy Sheriff David Munch (Jefferson Parish, 33) – wounded (leg and neck).
- Sergeant Emanuel Palmisano (43) – wounded (arm and back).
- Officer Kenneth Solis (26) – wounded (shoulder and back).
- Firefighter Timothy Ursin (29) – wounded (shoulder and chest).
Essex’s rampage ended when law enforcement, aided by a Marine Corps helicopter, killed him on the hotel rooftop after a prolonged exchange of gunfire.
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