50years ago today ...Where were you

[falshooter]

Remembering Mark Essex, the New Orleans Sniper — New Orleans Haunted History | Hottest Hell Tours

“Only a pig would read **** on the ceiling.” That was the hand-painted message which greeted police from the plaster roof of a shabby New Orleans apartment on January 7, 1973. Similarly, unnerving messages were scrawled on the walls, murderous phrases like “My death lies in the bloody death of racis

www.hottesthell.com

I was at the World of Wheels car show with my future wife's 17th birthday, at the Rivergate....(torn down now and replaced with the casino)...

Heard lots of sirens from inside and when we left, lot's of shooting. Didn't know what was happening until we got home later. Shooter used a Ruger .44mag carbine, not a "sniper rifle" as stated in the article

 

[enigmedic]

Lieutenant Tim Ursin, NOFD, led a full, prosperous life despite losing his arm that day. He was attempting to rescue a family on the 7th floor balcony, who could not evacuate due to the intensity of the flames and smoke when he set fire to the hotel. He is still alive and well running his charter fishing company. He describes the events of that day in a YouTube interview, on the "IronMenWoodenLadders" channel.
Unfortunately Lieutenant General Pitman, USMC, passed away in 2020. He elected to bring his CH-46 upon hearing that the Coast Guard pussied out, citing weather concerns. Efforts to court-martial him for taking the CH-46 were squashed by Armed Forces Committee Chairman Congressman F. Edward Hebert. After being shot down seven times in Vietnam, a militant coward with a carbine did not intimidate him. He went on to participate in Operation Eagle Claw. His story was told on YouTube as well, by Donut Operator.
Several NOPD officers were killed or injured, including one who walked to Charity Hospital, after taking a .44 to the lower neck shoulder area. Having met athletes and celebrities, I am not impressed. I consider myself fortunate to have met those men. THEY are role models, not spoiled brats whose lone accomplishment is being able to throw a ball further than the average person or playing dress-up on a Hollywood movie set.
Several civilians and hotel workers were killed in the two weeks leading up to the fire and active shooter event. Particularly noteworthy is the fact that several civilians brought scoped deer rifles for the police, to help end the carnage. That incident is the epitome of valor and benevolence.

 

[RussnAttitude]

I wasn't even a *** drop yet 50yrs ago. ... Good read

 

[JBP55]

South America.

 

[machinedrummer]

Watching my dad (JPSO) grab his hunting rifle, dog, kiss us goodbye and run out the door.

 

[Bigchillin83]

In my fathers loins

 

[John_]

I was a teenager (I was age 14 at the time) on my way to the World of Wheels at the Rivergate. I took the Tulane bus, got off and saw the firemen and the fire trucks responding to a fire at the Howard Johnson Hotel. A few minutes later I saw a fireman wounded on a ladder truck. He was up on the ladder. Me and my buddy forgot about the car show and stayed to watch what was playing out on Loyola Ave. Saw a cop on the median take a round from somewhere, laid out on the grass. It was chaos. Police shooting up at the hotel with what appeared to be 38 special revolvers, hunkered down behind squad cars, and what must have been detective cars (unmarked). And lots of shotguns. After I guess an hour or so, we made our way to the Rivergate for the car show. Seems like this was on Sunday from my memory. It all played out on tv the next couple days. They killed Essex with high power firearms from a helicopter hovering near the roof of the hotel. I believe they used a machine gun mounted on the helo to cut thru the cinder block enclosure on the roof where he was holed up in the latter stages of it. I seem to remember it was an elevator service building, but I could be wrong on that. They cut a hole thru the blocks with gunfire. He made a dash out of the cinder block enclosure on the roof and they cut him down. They made damned sure he was dead. Mark Essex had like 50 or 60 GS wounds when his body was recovered.

 

[falshooter]

I read it was 200 holes in him. They lit him up with the door gun, and everything else people on the rooftops were firing

 

[John_]

I read it was 200 holes in him. They lit him up with the door gun, and everything else people on the rooftops were firing

I believe it. I was being conservative in my numbers above. They lit him up for sure. Pay back for murdering like 10 people in a weeks time. Ruger 44 magnum semi auto rifle his main weapon in that Sunday rampage. My sister worked at the BNO Building very close to the Howard Johnson Hotel. BNO building was really tall. At one point, they had sharpshooters on the BNO rooftop.
We lived in NOLA, very close to Carrolton and Claiborne Ave. On Burdette St.

 

[mforsta]

I was 10 years old but remember watching it on the TV. My dads business was on S Rampart down by the Expressway. I remember driving past the HJ and seeing all of the bullet strikes on the side of the building.

 

[John_]

I was 10 years old but remember watching it on the TV. My dads business was on S Rampart down by the Expressway. I remember driving past the HJ and seeing all of the bullet strikes on the side of the building.

Oh yeah, it was crazy! Dominated the tv for 2 or 3 days. The police thought there was more shooters involved, so even when Essex was dead, they waited more and were very cautious. He was a Navy vet.

 

[machinedrummer]

YouTube has some good archive footage. The chinook firing at the “bunker” on the roof.

 

[enigmedic]

I read it was 200 holes in him. They lit him up with the door gun, and everything else people on the rooftops were firing

There was no "door gun" used. LTG Pitman, an LTC at the time, left in a hurry before his notification to command could be rejected, and he would be ordered to remain at Alvin Callender / Belle Chasse NAS. Aircraft are not stored with ammo, for obvious reasons, and waiting to arm it would have been a fool's errand. Nevermind the posse comitatus issue. It was entirely small arms provided by NOPD. If I had a dollar for every myth and apocryphal tale about that day I could have retired years ago. Fewer than 10 NOPD officers were actually on the helicopter; and unfortunately I met all 500 of them, usually at a bar or gun show.

 

[Abby Normal]

I was home watching on TV like the rest of the city. While it was just rapping up Monday, I went with my Dad to pick up a M1 Carbine that he had a rain check for. The JPSO was on there way to buy up what was left.

 

[machinedrummer]

Look at Alex T video on YouTube. It’s only 1:51 long and it shows the black chinook and the rooftop assault. Many videos of the assault. It’s titled Three black snipers in New Orleans kill whites only. Between the tv and my dads story of being there it’s clear as mud as far as more than one shooter etc…

 

[Magdump]

I was a third grader living in the woods off Perkins Road.

 

[charlie12]

I was in the Army

 

[bigsk]

I was 18 yrs old and at the "World of Wheels" car show like falshooter. Joined a lot of folks in the traffic jam that ensued while leaving the Rivergate trying to get out of the CBD not knowing what was going on until later.

 

[enigmedic]

Remembering Mark Essex, the New Orleans Sniper — New Orleans Haunted History | Hottest Hell Tours

“Only a pig would read **** on the ceiling.” That was the hand-painted message which greeted police from the plaster roof of a shabby New Orleans apartment on January 7, 1973. Similarly, unnerving messages were scrawled on the walls, murderous phrases like “My death lies in the bloody death of racis

www.hottesthell.com

I was at the World of Wheels car show with my future wife's 17th birthday, at the Rivergate....(torn down now and replaced with the casino)... Heard lots of sirens from inside and when we left, lot's of shooting. Didn't know what was happening until we got home later. Shooter used a Ruger .44mag carbine, not a "sniper rifle" as stated in the article

Remembering Mark Essex, the New Orleans Sniper — New Orleans Haunted History | Hottest Hell Tours

“Only a pig would read **** on the ceiling.” That was the hand-painted message which greeted police from the plaster roof of a shabby New Orleans apartment on January 7, 1973. Similarly, unnerving messages were scrawled on the walls, murderous phrases like “My death lies in the bloody death of racis

www.hottesthell.com

I was at the World of Wheels car show with my future wife's 17th birthday, at the Rivergate....(torn down now and replaced with the casino)...

Heard lots of sirens from inside and when we left, lot's of shooting. Didn't know what was happening until we got home later. Shooter used a Ruger .44mag carbine, not a "sniper rifle" as stated in the article

Thank you for posting. It is important historically, as well as morally. The men involved deserve recognition for their sacrifice, and those involved draw many parallels to today's attitude toward race, personal accountability, culture, and the divisive politics which facilitate these events. History repeats itself, and those that I've spoken to express concern for the seeds being sown for similar incidents to occur in the future. The sad part is the comments on videos of the incident, which praise and glamorize the killer, to include mainstream media spin as Mark Essex being a "civil rights advocate!"

 

[swampfoxx]

I remember watching it on TV in Baton Rouge. Also, the Rault Center fire just a couple of months prior.