On the morning of August 8, 1984, Patrolman Anthony J. Garaffa, a 41-year-old veteran of the Irvington Police Department, was fatally shot while responding to a report of suspicious activity at the intersection of 40th Street and Springfield Avenue. Garaffa, a 16-year member of the force, encountered three men and questioned them about a bag one was carrying. During the encounter the man reached into the bag and fired a sawed-off shotgun through the material, striking Garaffa. He was taken to University Hospital and died about five hours later.

The shooter was identified as Teddy Rose, who turned himself in roughly two hours after the shooting and was charged with capital murder. He was convicted; an initial death sentence was later changed after an appeal to the Supreme Court of New Jersey identified errors in the sentencing phase. On February 14, 1991, the sentence was commuted to 30 years to life, with parole eligibility in January 2022. Garaffa was survived by his wife and a two-year-old daughter.