On August 26, 1977, 19-year-old Jeffrey L. Gianquitti was fatally shot while riding his motorcycle near a railroad bridge in Hackettstown, New Jersey. He was struck in the heart and died instantly at the scene during a shooting spree along the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad tracks.

The shooter was identified as 20-year-old Emile Benoist, a resident of Hackettstown, who fired a .44-caliber rifle and killed a total of six people that day. First reports reached Hackettstown police at 5:36 P.M., and a prolonged manhunt followed as Benoist continued firing in the area and into Mansfield Township. Benoist eventually hid in a cornfield and, when discovered by a helicopter’s lights, died by a self-inflicted gunshot to the head.

Investigators determined Benoist acted alone; with his death there were no arrests or other suspects. Does anyone remember that late August day in Hackettstown or have information about Jeffrey’s life that could add to the record?