Arthur P. Snyder was a 29-year-old Metropolitan Police Department officer working a special detail targeting drug trafficking in Washington, D.C. in the winter of 1980. On the evening of February 11 he and a partner were conducting surveillance near 14th and U Streets NW when they moved to arrest a man observed making multiple transactions. As Snyder approached, the man opened fire. Snyder was hit in the head and in the abdomen beneath his vest and died the following day despite bystander aid and a rapid hospital transfer.

A massive manhunt identified the shooter as Bruce Wazon Griffith, who was already wanted on a prior heroin possession charge. Three days later a cab driver recognized Griffith and alerted police; when officers closed in Griffith fired on them and was killed in the subsequent shootout. With the death of the primary suspect the case was considered solved.

If anyone remembers the surveillance activity or the events around 14th and U Streets that night, or has details about Griffith’s movements in the days before February 11, please share what is known.