re: Mark Essex — Holiday Inn

Watched it on TV live. It was the Downtown Howard Johnson Hotel.

This event, and the Rault Center fire that happened around the same time were very traumatic events for many in Nola, in addition to the victims.

Antoine Saacks......that's a name I haven't heard in a long time.

The only cop I knew that was a bonafide millionaire while on the force....and did it all for the most part legitimately

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There's a book all about the saga called "A Terrible Thunder", worth a read.

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If you can get past the non-stop typos, this is THE definitive account of the Essex saga.

Hard to believe (or maybe not) that there is a mini mural in New Orleans paying tribute to Essex.

Fun fact:

Essex shot a firefighter and blew off his arm/hand. He retired and became a fishing guide….captain Hooks Charters.

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What were you doing in school on a Sunday?

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That following Monday they were STILL covering it live on TV even after Mark Essex was taken out; the officials back then (and some people today STILL) think that Mark Essex did not act alone and they were still looking for any accomplices.

From NOLA.com:
It was 9 p.m., about 10 hours after the hotel had come under attack, but it wasn't until the next day that police finally recovered the sniper's body and decided there were no other gunmen in the hotel or on the roof. Though officials concluded that Essex was a lone killer, even today many of those who worked to stop him believe that he had at least one accomplice.

From the NY Times, Jan 11, 1973:
NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 11 —The New Orleans Police Department has evidence that there were at least two snipers and possibly three in the Downtown Howard Johnson Motor Lodge last Sunday and Monday, and that the six people killed and 15 wounded by gunfire at the motel were shot from two different weapons—a .44-caliber semiautomatic rifle and a bolt action rifle.

One of the snipers was said by a police officer tonight to have been a woman.

The officer, Dave Munch, a member of a suburban police rescue squad, was reported to have been hit by a sniper using a shotgun, but he said that he believed he was hit by an exploding rifle slug.

Mr. Munch said he saw two snipers, a man in a black jacket and a woman wearing brown, on the eighth floor of the motel late Sunday morning, and was shot by one of them in the midst of the confusion.

Another witness, a janitor in a nearby building, also told the New Orleans police today that he had seen two men with guns on the Motel balconies at the same time, one, on the eighth floor, and one on the 11th.

However, the New Orleans police believe that the janitor may have mistaken the woman in brown for a man.
New Orleans police officials have maintained there were at least two snipers and possibly three at the motel and that they fired hundreds of rounds of ammunition at the police.

Police Superintendent Clarence B. Giarrusso said that he is not as convinced now as he was Monday that there were two or more snipers, but that he still felt strongly that there were.

One thing that the police have not been able to explain is how a second sniper could have escaped from the motel, which was surrounded by several hundred officers.

A source in the New Orleans Police Department said that a second sniper could have escaped through hidden doors in the motel elevator shaft. The police did not discover the existence of the doors until Monday afternoon, more than 30 hours after the shooting began about 10:30 A.M. Sunday.

LINK ]NOPD - "The Case of the Missing Cigars" (1957)

New Orleans detectives investigate a seemingly routine robbery and end up on the trail of drug pushers.

I admit I'd never even heard of this very obscure TV series. Mostly an extremely unremarkable Dragnet imitation (frequent Dragnet guest Stacy Harris plays the lead), it was actually filmed on location in New Orleans. But that's not the most interesting thing about it. Not even close.

Harris's detective partner is played by one Louis Sirgo.

Several NOPD episodes were re-edited as a feature film called New Orleans After Dark. Louis Sirgo is second from right.



The nearly-forgotten Hollywood history of a New Orleans police hero

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In 1955, the year after the 50’s run of Dragnet ended, N.O.P.D. premiered. It starred Stacy Harris, a regular actor on Dragnet, as Detective Victor Beaujac. His partner was Detective John Conroy, played by an NOPD detective, Louis Sirgo. Billboard Magazine described the series as adopting a “documentary adventure approach to crime, based upon files of the [NOPD].”

“If this reminds anybody of Dragnet,” Billboard opined, “it should.” Producer-writer Frank Phares specifically cited Dragnet as being his inspiration for the series. Like Dragnet, the series strived for authenticity, with Billboard noting that N.O.P.D. was “the first major effort to be shot in New Orleans.” It was shot entirely on location; well-known local figures played themselves.

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Louis Sirgo, on the other hand, returned to his day job with the NOPD, but retired in 1964 and became a clerk with Traffic Court. In 1970, he was appointed deputy superintendant of police by then Chief Clarence Giarrusso. Sirgo was outspoken, decrying poverty, “vindictive” justice, and “the greatest sin of American society — the status of the American Negro.”

Sirgo was murdered in the line of duty two years later during the race-fueled murder spree of Mark Essex. It began on New Year’s Eve of 1972, when Essex shot and killed NOPD Cadet Alfred Harrell Jr. and NOPD Sgt. Edwin Hosli, Sr. (his eldest son, Edwin Hosli, Jr., became an NOPD officer and has served as District Commander for the 2nd and 8th Districts).

A week later, Essex was subsequently found in a stolen car and chased into the Howard Johnson’s on Loyola Boulevard (presently the clarinet-emblazoned Holiday Inn). There, Essex continued his rampage, killing police and civilians indiscriminately as he stormed his way to the roof.

Sirgo was shot in a stairwell as he led an effort to rescue trapped officers. He was carried to safety and died shortly thereafter at Charity Hospital. The plaza in front of police headquarters is named in his memory.

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Louis Sirgo

So the white man caused him to kill people ?

Brings back bad memories, except his ending.

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The barrage of gunfire would continue for almost four minutes. An autopsy later revealed Essex had received more than 200 gunshot wounds.

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Oh my God. Was he ok?