On the night of December 31, 1972, 19-year-old New Orleans Police Department cadet Alfred Harrell was working the gate at the Central Lockup when he was struck by a sniper’s bullet at approximately 10:55 p.m. The shot was fired from a .44 caliber carbine from a field about 280 feet away. Harrell, who had been with the department less than a year, was scheduled to end his shift five minutes later. He was survived by his wife and a 9-month-old son.

Investigators later identified Mark Essex as the sniper and sole perpetrator of a series of deadly attacks. Minutes after shooting Harrell, Essex shot Sergeant Edwin Hosli, who was investigating a nearby warehouse alarm; Hosli later died from his wounds on March 5, 1973. On January 7, 1973, Essex killed Deputy Superintendent Louis Sirgo, Patrolman Paul Persigo, and Patrolman Philip Coleman during a siege at a downtown Howard Johnson hotel, where he also set fires and fired on civilians. Police ultimately confronted Essex from a Marine helicopter; he was shot and killed during that engagement.

Did anyone who knew Cadet Harrell or was working at the Central Lockup that night see anything unusual in the area before 10:55 p.m.?