{"id":113903,"date":"2021-08-29T16:04:09","date_gmt":"2021-08-29T20:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/?p=113903"},"modified":"2021-08-29T16:04:09","modified_gmt":"2023-09-06T02:12:51","slug":"mark-james-robert-essex-and-the-second-battle-of-new-orleans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/mark-james-robert-essex-and-the-second-battle-of-new-orleans\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark James Robert Essex and the Second Battle of New Orleans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Mark
In January of 1973, a modest war was fought in downtown New Orleans, Louisiana. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Mark
The darkness welling up in the hearts of people like Stephen Paddock is difficult to comprehend by normal folk. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What possesses a guy to kill senselessly\nand en masse? The dark nihilist emptiness of Stephen Paddock\u2019s pathetic life led\nhim to open fire on a music festival in Las Vegas in 2017, killing 58 and\nwounding another 422. His twisted motivations remain a mystery. In the case of\nMark James Robert Essex, however, we find a hate-driven man bullied and abused\nwho showed just how much carnage a single determined shooter with a rifle can\nwreak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mark
Mark James Robert Essex was an otherwise promising young man who gave himself over utterly to the dark side. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Jimmy Essex was the second of five\nchildren of a church-going African-American meat packer from Emporia, Kansas.\nHe enlisted in the Navy in 1969 to avoid being drafted for combat in Vietnam.\nThe Navy trained him as a dental technician.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mark
Essex became consumed with hatred. He painted racist diatribes on the walls and ceilings of his New Orleans apartment. All references to the police were painted in red. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Essex purportedly endured two years of\nracial abuse at the hands of his peers and superiors in the Navy. This was a\ndifferent time, and our society then tolerated such stuff. This experience\ntransformed Essex from a bright young church member into the seething\nembodiment of hate.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mark
The Black Panthers was a racist paramilitary terrorist group that attracted angry young men like Jimmy Essex. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After receiving a General Discharge from\nthe Navy for unspecified character and behavioral disorders, Essex sought out\nradical black activists and joined the New York Black Panthers. In 1972 he\nmoved to New Orleans to learn vending machine repair. There had been some\nunfortunate police-involved shootings of young black men thereabouts, so he also\nresolved to murder white police officers. Armed with a Ruger Model 44 carbine\npurchased from Montgomery Ward along with a Colt .38 revolver, Essex began his\nhunt on New Year\u2019s Eve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Killing from Ambush<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Mark
The first Law Enforcement victim of Jimmy Essex\u2019s hate-fueled rampage was actually an African-American police cadet. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Essex waited hidden in a parking lot\nacross the street from the crowded NOPD central lockup. Police cadet Alfred\nHarrell, a married 19-year-old black father, was the first to appear. Despite\nclaiming that he would target \u201cjust honkies,\u201d Essex shot and killed\nthe young man from a range of 280 feet with his .44 Magnum rifle. He wounded LT\nHorace Perez as well before escaping across Interstate 10, deploying\nfirecrackers as he ran as a diversion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mark
Certain derelict neighborhoods in New Orleans were and are profoundly hostile to Law Enforcement. This gleaming memorial to the mass murderer Jimmy Essex stands in the 7th<\/sup> Ward. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Entering Gert Town, a dreary bit of New Orleans known for its astronomical crime rate and hostility toward Law Enforcement, Essex broke into the Burkart Building, a combination warehouse and manufacturing facility. The building\u2019s alarm system automatically alerted police, and two officers responded with a K9. Essex shot responding Officer Edwin Hosli in the back. Backup arrived in short order, but Essex escaped in the confusion. Officer Hosli died of his wounds the following month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Main Event<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Mark
The New Orleans Howard Johnson\u2019s Hotel became the scene of a ferocious battle. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Jimmy Essex took the following week off from his cop-killing mayhem, but on January 7th<\/sup> he returned with a vengeance. First, he shot a random white grocer named Joe Perniciaro and carjacked a black man\u2019s 1968 Chevelle, driving the stolen vehicle to the local Howard Johnson\u2019s high-rise hotel. Abandoning the car he ran up the stairs, shaking locked fire doors as he went.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mark
It actually took a fair amount of effort for Essex to gain entry into the hotel. He shook doors all the way up to the top floor before he found one ajar. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When finally he arrived at the top floor\nhe found an open door and encountered three black members of the hotel staff. He\nreassured them, explaining that he was only there to kill white people. They fled\nand immediately notified the authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mark
Essex set several fires both to serve as distractions and to draw Law Enforcement Officers into his kill zone. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Essex encountered 27-year-old Dr. Robert\nSteagall and his wife Betty in the hallway. The Steagalls were visiting from Virginia\non their honeymoon. After a brief scuffle Essex shot and killed them both. He\nthen made his way into their hotel room and set the drapes alight. Abandoning a\nPan-African flag near the Steagall\u2019s bodies, he headed\ndownstairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mark
Essex\u2019s vantage from atop the New Orleans Howard Johnson\u2019s gave him a dominating view of the surrounding cityscape. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Essex made his way down to the eleventh\nfloor, setting fires as he went. There he shot and killed Frank Schneider and\nWalter Collins, two of the hotel managers. Essex then climbed onto the roof of\nthe building where he had a commanding view of the surrounding city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mark
Jimmy Essex fired upon officers closing in on the hotel, killing several. This particular image became an icon of the tumultuous era. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Two police officers attempted to enter the building via a fire truck ladder only to be fired upon by Essex from the roof. Essex promptly shot and killed Officers Paul Persigo and Phillip Coleman from his rooftop hide. He wounded Officer Ken Solis and shot Deputy Superintendent Louis Sirgo through the spine, killing him. A Tulane medical student named Lewis Townsend crossed an open field under fire to carry Sirgo to cover before returning to class. What a stud. At this point, the Law Enforcement response just went off the rails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Second Battle for New Orleans<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Mark
The chaos that ensued led to rampant misinformation and confusion. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Essex enjoyed a breathtaking vantage, and\nhis steady peppering of the surrounding area shut down downtown New Orleans. As\nis so often the case in the fog of war, a persistent rumor arose about a second\ngunman. This was found to be unsubstantiated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mark
Police used a military Sea Knight helicopter for several hours as an aerial fire support platform. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

LTG Chuck Pittman, USMC, saw the event unfold on live television and offered the New Orleans cops use of a military CH46 Sea Knight helicopter. Over the next several hour’s police shooters aboard this helicopter supported by snipers on the roofs of nearby buildings took potshots at Essex as he fired from behind cover. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mark
The resulting chaos seemed more like Mogadishu than New Orleans. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Desperate to neutralize the threat,\nofficers raked the roof of this popular downtown hotel with automatic weapons\nfire. Amateur video of the exchange can be found on YouTube. It is pretty\nimpressive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=wnB8a-sRiQo\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Mark
Jimmy Essex was absolutely shot to pieces during the violent exchange of fire. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There was a concrete blockhouse of sorts\non the roof of the hotel, and Essex took refuge within it as darkness fell. By\nthis time Law Enforcement officers had begun advancing toward his position. Essex\nemerged from his bunker and fired at the helicopter, striking it in its\ntransmission. At this point everybody with a gun cut loose, chewing Jimmy Essex\nliterally to pieces. When the dust settled his 23-year-old body bore more than\n200 bullet wounds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mark
Cops fired on Essex\u2019s position from multiple angles, wounding several officers with stray rounds. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hamstrung by a lack of reliable comms, officers advanced upon Essex\u2019s position from several directions. In the final fusillade, several police officers were injured from friendly fire. Firing into the middle of a circle violates every rule of small-unit combat, but these were the days before SWAT. In 1973 only New York and Los Angeles maintained dedicated tactical teams. The New Orleans cops were simply not prepared for violence on this scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Perpetrator\u2019s Rifle<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Mark
The Ruger Model 44 was designed as a lightweight sporting rifle firing the powerful .44 Magnum pistol cartridge. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Ruger Model 44 .44 Magnum autoloading\nrifle is a powerful mid-range deer gun pure and simple. Bearing an esoteric\nsimilarity to the M1 Carbine, the Model 44 is a gas-operated semiautomatic\ncarbine that feeds from an internal four-round tubular magazine. Introduced in\n1961, the Model 44 was called the \u201cDeerstalker\u201d until a lawsuit\nbrought by Ithaca over trademark infringement forced Ruger to remove the name.\nThe Model 44 strongly influenced the ubiquitous 10\/22 that was launched three\nyears later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mark
The Ruger Model 44 loads one round at a time from the bottom in the manner of a repeating shotgun. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Model 44 featured a rotating bolt and\nstained walnut stock. The front sight included a gold bead, while the rear\nsight was a simple folding leaf. The receiver came from the factory drilled and\ntapped for an optical sight. The Model 44 loaded through a gate underneath the\naction in the manner of a pump shotgun. The safety was a simple pushbutton located\nwithin the trigger guard. The Model 44 remained in production until 1985.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mark
I have some personal experience with the Ruger Model 44. It is an effective close to a mid-range deer rifle. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I killed my first deer with my mom\u2019s Ruger Model 44\nwhen I was eight years old. This handy little rifle was indeed lightweight and\nmaneuverable. Recoil was manageable, and the gun was plenty accurate,\nespecially with a scope installed. Particularly when fired from a rifle barrel\nthose heavy .44-caliber bullets were simply devastating downrange. That first\nbig doe I shot with mom\u2019s gun dropped like a sack of cement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Rest of the Story<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Mark
The protracted firefight left the roof of the hotel shredded by bullets. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Between the advancing officers, the several snipers firing from nearby rooftops, and police machine gunners onboard the Sea Knight, the New Orleans cops chewed the roof of that hotel to pieces. The concrete edifice within which Essex hid was absolutely pulverized. It was a legitimate miracle they didn\u2019t kill innocent bystanders all over the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mark
Despite his lack of serious combat training, Essex was a profoundly effective shooter. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The terrifying bit is simply that Mark\nEssex had no formal tactical training, and he wielded an inexpensive\npistol-caliber carbine that held a mere five shots in a cumbersome internal\nmagazine. Despite this, he ultimately killed nine and injured thirteen. A\nserious operator armed with a more efficient weapon could have wrought so much\nmore carnage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mark
The toxic combination of a readily defensible position, an elevated vantage, and a fanatical shooter was synergistically horrible. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Considering Essex apparently had not\nplanned out the details of his final operation in advance, he demonstrated\nexceptional tactical acumen. He consistently employed violence as a diversion\nto cover his movements and effectively eluded the police on a couple of\noccasions. When it came time for his Alamo moment Essex seized the high ground\nwhile maximizing his use of cover and concealment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mark
Law Enforcement learned a great deal from the 1973 New Orleans Howard Johnson\u2019s debacle. Today even small departments maintain tactical response teams that train to respond to active shooter scenarios. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The seething racial vitriol that drove\nMark James Robert Essex to blast the holy crap out of downtown New Orleans\ncontinues to drive headlines today. Within this sordid tale, however, there\nresides any number of legitimate tactical lessons. Law Enforcement tactics\nnationwide evolved markedly as a result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mark
Most of the country has forgotten about Jimmy Essex and his hate-driven murder spree. However, for a few hours, the combat in an otherwise normal American city was simply epic. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The New Orleans Howard Johnson is a\nHoliday Inn today. I\u2019ve stayed there. There are no obvious\nmarkers anywhere I could find to commemorate the building\u2019s nefarious history.\nIn the dark days of January 1973, however, this nondescript hotel played host\nto its own little war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mark
Urban America is not accustomed to military-grade combat. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Mark
Essex sent this note to a local newspaper before his attack, but it was not discovered until days after the event. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ruger Model 44\nCarbine<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Caliber                           .44\nMagnum<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barrel Length                 18.5 inches<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall Length               37 inches<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weight                           6\npounds<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Action                            Gas-Operated,\nRotating Bolt<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feed System                   4-Round Tubular Magazine<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sights                             Gold Bead Front, Folding Leaf Rear<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buy and Sell on GunsAmerica!<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The seething racial vitriol that drove Mark James Robert Essex to blast the holy crap out of downtown New Orleans continues to drive headlines today. Within this sordid tale, however, there resides any number of legitimate tactical lessons. Law Enforcement tactics nationwide evolved markedly as a result.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":113923,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_specdata_upc":"","_specdata_placement":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[257,772],"tags":[132,102,752],"featured":[],"hunt365":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-113903","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-historical-guns","8":"category-will-dabbs","9":"tag-buzz","10":"tag-feature-articles","11":"tag-historical-guns"},"yoast_head":"\nMark James Robert Essex and the Second Battle of New Orleans<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mark James Robert Essex and the Second Battle of New Orleans - Will Dabbs\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/mark-james-robert-essex-and-the-second-battle-of-new-orleans\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mark James Robert Essex and the Second Battle of New Orleans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The seething racial vitriol that drove Mark James Robert Essex to blast the holy crap out of downtown New Orleans continues to drive headlines today. 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However, shooting guns and claiming it was work seemed like a pretty sweet hustle. As a result, Will serendipitously transformed an avocation into a vocation. Raised in the Mississippi Delta, Will flew UH1H, OH58A\\\/C, CH47D and AH1S helicopters operationally as an Army Aviator. He is SCUBA-qualified and has parachuted out of perfectly good airplanes at 3 o'clock in the morning. Will has summited Mount McKinley, Alaska, six times\u2026always at the controls of an Army helicopter, which is the only way sensible folk climb mountains. Will has delivered sixty babies and occasionally wrung human blood out of his socks. He is married to his high school sweetheart and has three awesome adult children. Turn-ons include vintage German machineguns, flying his sexy-cool RV6A airplane, Count Chocula cereal and the movie \u201cAliens.\u201d www.word-monkey.com Experience: -Professional Writer-thousands of publishing credits for dozens of titles -Mechanical Engineer\\\/Practicing Physician -Instrument-rated Commercial Pilot -Sunday School Teacher\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.word-monkey.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/will.dabbs.9\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/drwildmanmd\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/author\\\/willdabbs\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mark James Robert Essex and the Second Battle of New Orleans","description":"Mark James Robert Essex and the Second Battle of New Orleans - Will Dabbs","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/mark-james-robert-essex-and-the-second-battle-of-new-orleans\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mark James Robert Essex and the Second Battle of New Orleans","og_description":"The seething racial vitriol that drove Mark James Robert Essex to blast the holy crap out of downtown New Orleans continues to drive headlines today. Within this sordid tale, however, there resides any number of legitimate tactical lessons. 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