New York City Police Department, New York
End of Watch: Saturday, September 11, 1976
Age: 27
Tour of Duty: 6 years
Badge Number: 13639
Cause of Death: Terrorist attack
Date of Incident: September 11, 1976
Weapon Used: Explosives; Bomb
Suspect Info: Life in prison
Police Officer Brian Murray was killed when a terrorist bomb he was trying to deactivate exploded.
Terrorists attempting to win Croatian independence planted a bomb in a locker at Grand Central Station in Manhattan. The terrorists then hijacked a TWA flight. While en route to Europe, the terrorists transmitted their demands. The terrorists threatened to blow up the airplane with bombs, and to strengthen the impression that they had real bombs on the airplane, they told officials where they could find a bomb at Grand Central Station.
Officers from the Bomb Squad were sent to investigate, and they removed a bomb from a locker at the station. They then removed the bomb to the department range at Rodman's Neck in the Bronx, where Officer Murray, along with three other officers, attempted to defuse the bomb by remote control. When they were unsuccessful in defusing the bomb by remote, they approached it. During their approach, the bomb exploded, killing Officer Murray and seriously injuring the other three officers.
The five Croatian terrorists were arrested when the airplane they hijacked landed in Paris, France. All five suspects were returned to the United States, where the United States Government charged them with Air Piracy and by New York State with murder.
All five suspects were convicted of air piracy, and in addition, two were convicted of murder. The two suspects convicted of murder were sentenced to life in prison, but that sentence was reduced in 1980. One suspect was paroled in 1989. The second was paroled in 2008 and then deported.
Croatian terrorists were responsible for several bombings in the late 1970s and early 1980s that resulted in the injury of many civilians and police officers.
Officer Murray had served with the New York City Police Department for six years. He is survived by his wife and two children.
On October 1, 2014, Charles Street in Lower Manhattan was renamed Police Officer Brain Murray Way in his honor.