With a crowd of excited Negro youths at his back, the off-duty cop held his badge in one hand, his .38-cal. revolver in the other, and advanced toward the doorway to face a Negro boy who was holding a knife. "I'm a police lieutenant," said Thomas R. Gilligan. "Come out and drop it." James Powell, 15, kept the knife chest-high, lunged at Gilligan. The policeman fired a warning shot to the left, into the building. Powell swung the knife. Gilligan blocked the blow with his right hand, but the blade scraped his arm....
To continue reading:
or
Log-In