On the afternoon of Saturday, June 28, 1986, 22-year-old New York City Police Officer Scott Gadell was shot and killed in Far Rockaway, Queens, while on patrol in the 101st Precinct. Gadell and his partner, James Connelly, had been flagged down after two men reported a gunman had fired at them. The officers spotted a suspect and chased him through bungalows and rooming houses, eventually splitting up to cut off his escape.

As Gadell entered an alley near a rooming house at 30-15 Seagirt Boulevard, the gunman, crouched in a basement entryway, opened fire with a 9mm handgun. Gadell returned fire with his .38-caliber revolver and emptied it; while he paused to reload, the assailant approached and fatally shot him in the head at close range. Gadell was taken to Peninsula Hospital Center, where he was pronounced dead.

The shooter fled, and authorities later arrested Errol Campbell, also known as Robert Roulston, charging him with Gadell’s murder. The officer’s death prompted the department to change issued equipment, including adopting speedloaders for revolvers and later moving toward semi-automatic pistols.

If anyone knew Officer Gadell or was in Far Rockaway that afternoon, does any memory or detail about the chase or the alleyway at Seagirt Boulevard help this investigation?