On the night of March 23, 1986, James Holmes, a 47-year-old police officer with 17 years’ service in the New York City Housing Authority Police Department, was visiting a friend at 361 Livonia Avenue in Brownsville, Brooklyn. Around 10:25 p.m., while entering the building, he was confronted by a man who attempted to rob him. Holmes resisted and was knocked unconscious during a struggle; the attacker stole his service weapon and initially fled.

The assailant returned to the scene, shot Holmes multiple times in the stomach and chest, and the officer later died at Brookdale Hospital. An arrest followed when a 21-year-old man on probation, Alexander Evans, told his probation officer he believed he might be wanted for the killing. Evans was convicted of second-degree murder, first-degree robbery, and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and sentenced to 32 1/2 years to life. Officer Holmes was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on September 4, 1986.

Did anyone in the neighborhood remember seeing or hearing anything that night at 361 Livonia Avenue?