Nov. 6, 1964 - New York police lieutenant Thomas Gilligan, whose fatal shooting of 15-year-old James Powell on July 16 touched off riots in Harlem and Brooklyn and fed fuel to other racial disorders during the summer, was cleared of wrongdoing today by the NYPD’s Civilian Complaint Review Board.
Early in September, a New York County grand jury that reviewed the case in depth refused to indict.
The review board announced that, after studying 1,700 pages of testimony taken by the grand jury in the Gilligan case, it had unanimously concluded that the lieutenant had not violated “rules and procedures” of the department.
Police Commissioner Michael J. Murphy consequently ordered the file closed.
The action paved the way for Gilligan’s return to active duty. He went on sick leave immediately after the shooting and still is on the sick list. When he would return to duty, a departmental spokesman said, would depend on findings of police surgeons.
The shooting of young Powell took place in front of an apartment house at 213 E. 76th St. on a hot summer day. A group of pupils, most of them Negroes, who attended classes at a nearby school, were wetted down by the hose of the building’s superintendent.
Some of the boys began throwing garbage can covers and bottles, and the superintendent was hit and chased into the building by one of the youths.
Gilligan, off duty, was in a nearby TV-radio repair shop having a radio fixed.
Hearing the commotion, he went to the scene. There was conflicting testimony on what happened next. Gilligan and some witnesses said young Powell came at him with a knife and that Gilligan shot him down after the boy continued toward him despite Gilligan’s command to drop the knife.
Other witnesses said Powell did not have a knife.
The grand jury found Gilligan, a Marine Corps veteran and holder of 19 departmental honors for meritorious service, “not criminally liable.”
At the height of the racial disturbances, anonymous posters containing Gilligan’s picture and the legend “Wanted for Murder” were handed about, contributing to the agitation.
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