A 33-year-old New York City Police Department detective, Joseph Picciano, was killed during an altercation at the 41st Precinct stationhouse on Simpson Street in the Bronx in the early hours of February 15, 1971. Picciano was fingerprinting a prisoner, identified as Antonio Allemano, who had been arrested for the attempted abduction of a 13-year-old boy. A struggle in the second-floor squad room knocked Picciano’s service revolver to the floor; Allemano grabbed the weapon, shot Picciano in the chest and stomach, and then fired additional rounds.

Other officers responded: Detective William Lally returned fire and fatally shot Allemano, while two detectives, Joe Marrero and Richard Ware, had taken cover and had warned Picciano when his gun fell. Picciano was taken to Jacobi Hospital but succumbed to his wounds. Allemano’s record showed multiple aliases and prior arrests including assault in San Juan, burglary and larceny in Cleveland, and endangering the welfare of a child in New York City. Picciano, an 11-year NYPD veteran promoted to detective in June 1969, lived in Maspeth, Queens, with his wife and three young children; more than 4,000 people attended his funeral at St. Stanislaus Roman Catholic Church on February 19, 1971.