On June 5, 1986, 38-year-old Philadelphia Police Department officer Daniel Thomas Gleason was fatally shot while responding to a vandalism complaint on West Sedgley Avenue near North Broad Street. Officer Gleason and his partner approached two people standing nearby; one, identified as Nathan Long, produced a handgun and fired, striking Gleason multiple times in the face and arm. Gleason was taken to Temple University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The incident began when Long confronted a prostitute and a customer in a parked car, accusing the man of wearing a shirt stolen from Long’s house, then smashed the car windows with a baseball bat. The attack on the officers occurred during that disturbance and involved a point-blank shooting. Long was later convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison on November 29, 1986. Officer Gleason had served with the department for over 15 years and was survived by his wife and six children; his wife died in a car accident three years later.

Did anyone in the neighborhood at the time remember the disturbance on West Sedgley Avenue or have information about what led up to the shooting?