On a cold January night in 1994, Newport News Police Officer Steven Robert Rutherford, 28, was killed while working an undercover sting. Posing as a pizza delivery driver to catch suspects responsible for robberies of delivery workers, he was ambushed in the Thorncliff Drive area by a group of young men. While complying with demands to lie on the ground his jacket shifted and revealed his firearm; one assailant opened fire. Rutherford pursued the attackers after being shot but collapsed and was pronounced dead at the scene. His partner, parked in the delivery vehicle, returned fire as the suspects fled.

Investigators arrested four teenagers in connection with the killing. Nephus Stanley was identified as the shooter and charged with capital murder; he pleaded guilty and received two life terms plus eight years. Antoine R. Speed was convicted of murder and given 70 years. Antonio Johnson was convicted of murder and robbery and received 38 years. Earl Coleman-Bey was acquitted of murder but convicted of attempted robbery and a related gun charge. The operation was later criticized for being poorly planned and hastily executed, and the case had a lasting impact on the Newport News community and police department.

Did anyone in the Thorncliff Drive area at the time notice unusual activity or the delivery vehicle that night?