Sergeant John William Bonnell III, 23, was killed on July 10, 1979, while working undercover on an operation called Operation Checkerboard. Bonnell, a white officer who had served two years with the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office after a year with the Baton Rouge Police Department, was meeting a suspect for a purported cocaine purchase. He rode in the front passenger seat with a confidential informant in the rear; another person drove the vehicle to New Orleans.

When the car reached the Desire Housing Project in New Orleans East, the primary suspect exited and, without warning, shot Sergeant Bonnell in the back of the head, killing him instantly. The gunman also wounded the informant, who survived by feigning death. The suspects fled but were taken into custody by the New Orleans Police Department a short time later, and the man responsible was convicted and given a life sentence without parole.

If anyone knew Sergeant Bonnell, his family, or the circumstances around Operation Checkerboard, please share what might help clarify the events that day.