Emmet Till and Mark Essex

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Essex

Mark Essex

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Mark Essex

Birth name: Mark James Robert Essex

Born: 1949

Emporia, Kansas, United States

Died:

January 7, 1973

New Orleans, Louisiana, United States

Cause of Death: Shot by police

Killings

Date: January 1 and January 7, 1973

Target(s): "Honkies"

Howard Johnson's Hotel

Location(s): New Orleans, Louisiana, United States

Killed: 9

Injured: 13

Weapon(s): Ruger carbine (.44 Magnum)

Mark James Robert Essex (1949 ? January 7, 1973) killed 9 people,

including police, and wounded 13 others in New Orleans on January 7,

1973.

Contents

[hide]

1 Background

2 New Year's Eve, 1972

3 7 January 1973

4 Aftermath

5 See also

6 References

7 Bibliography

8 External links

[edit] Background

Mark James Robert Essex was born in Emporia, Kansas. His friends

remembered him as a quiet, happy person, who had talked about becoming

a minister. Essex then joined the United States Navy, where he was

subjected to two years of ceaseless racial abuse.[1] He was given a

general discharge for unsuitability on 10 February 1971, for

"character and behavior disorders." After his discharge, he became

involved with black radicals in San Francisco, California and later

joined the New York Black Panthers.

[edit] New Year's Eve, 1972

At the age of 23 and living in New Orleans, Essex began targeting

police officers. On New Year's Eve 1972 Essex parked his car and went

down Perdido Street, a block from the New Orleans Police Department.

He hid in a parking lot across from the busy central lockup and used a

Ruger .44 Magnum carbine to kill Cadet Alfred Harrell. Lt. Horace

Perez was also wounded in the attack. Interestingly, Harrell was

black, although Essex said he was going to kill "just honkies" before

beginning his murderous attacks. Essex evaded being taken into

custody, and later returned, killing Officer Edwin Hosli Sr.

In 1973 this building was the New Orleans "Howard Johnson's" where

Essex tried to hide before being killed

In 1973 this building was the New Orleans "Howard Johnson's" where

Essex tried to hide before being killed

[edit] 7 January 1973

It was 10:15am, 7 January 1973, when Essex shot grocer Joe Perniciaro

with his .44 Magnum carbine. Essex was making his way to The Downtown

Howard Johnson's Hotel on 330 Loyola Ave. Gaining entry from a fire

stairwell on the 18th floor, Essex told three startled black hotel

employees not to worry, as he was only there to kill white people. In

the hallway in front of room 1829 Essex found a 27-year-old

vacationing Dr. Robert Steagall and his wife Betty. After a struggle

with Steagall, Essex shot him in the chest. He then shot the wife of

the doctor in the back of the head. In the room, he soaked telephone

books with lighter fluid and set them ablaze under the curtains. Essex

dropped the African flag onto the floor beside the bodies of the

couple as he left. Down on the 11th floor, Essex shot his way into

rooms and set more fires. On the 11th floor, he shot and killed Frank

Schneider, the hotel assistant manager, and shot Walter Collins, the

hotel general manager. Three weeks later, Collins died in the hospital

as a result of the gunshot wounds. The police and fire department

quickly arrived. Two officers tried to use a fire truck's ladder to

enter the building, but were shot at by Essex. Attempting to rescue

trapped officers, Deputy Chief Sirgo was shot in the spine by Essex,

and died. Lt. Lewis Townsend a Tulane medical student, walked into the

open field to carry the wounded officer to safety, then returned to

class. Seeing the story on TV, Lt. General Chuck Pitman of the United

States Marine Corps offered the use of a CH-46 military helicopter to

assist the police officers. The helicopter was loaded with armed men

and sent up. Essex and the helicopter exchanged many rounds over many

hours. Essex managed to hole himself up in a concrete cubicle that

would protect him. Right as he hit the helicopter's transmission,

Essex was barraged with fatal gunfire. An autopsy later revealed more

than 200 gunshot wounds.

Before the attack, the television station WWL received a handwritten

note from Essex. It read:

'Africa greets you. On Dec. 31, 1972, aprx. 11 p.m., the downtown New

Orleans Police Department will be attacked. Reason ? many, but the

death of two innocent brothers will be avenged. And many others.

P.S. Tell pig Giarrusso the felony action squad ain't shit.

Mata'

[edit] Aftermath

After the smoke had cleared, a tally revealed that Essex had shot 19

people, including 10 police officers.

[edit] See also

United States Navy portal

[edit] References

1. ^ Cawthorne, Nigel & Tibballs, Geoff (1994). Killers. Boxtree,

pp. 238-240. ISBN 0-7522-0850-0.

[edit] Bibliography

A Terrible Thunder: The Story of the New Orleans Sniper by Peter

Hernon (2005) ISBN 1-891053-48-5

[edit] External links

Mark Essex story at The Crime Library.

A brief story from the documentary The Killing of America