On a November evening in 1980, Police Officer James Dunston, 33, was killed while answering a burglary-in-progress call on East 102nd Street in Manhattan. He and his partner walked into an apartment where three armed intruders were holding a family hostage; as the officers knocked and the door opened, a suspect fired a shotgun, fatally wounding Officer Dunston. His partner returned fire and called for backup, and responding officers quickly apprehended one suspect while detectives arrested the other two the next day.

A 17-year-old girl was struck in the crossfire and lost sight in one eye. The three suspects, then aged 24, 25, and 32, were convicted on February 9, 1982 of murder, assault, robbery, and burglary and sentenced to 25 years to life. Dunston, a United States Army veteran, had served 11 years with the New York City Housing Authority Police Department and was survived by his wife and three children.

Did anyone in the neighborhood or the family ever see suspicious activity at that East 102nd Street address before the shooting?