Police Officer Stephen R. Gilroy

Stephen R. Gilroy

Police Officer Stephen Gilroy was shot and killed during a 47 hour siege with 14 hostages at a sporting goods store, at 927 Broadway, where they had just attempted an armed robbery.

In an exchange of gunfire two other officers were wounded and one of the four suspects was shot three times in the abdomen. One of the hostages convinced the suspects that he and the other hostages would be safer and out of the line of police gunfire on the second floor. The hostages escaped through a hidden staircase as soon as they got to the second floor. The suspects were then forced to surrender to the police.

It was never determined if one of the suspects shot Officer Gilroy or if he was accidentally shot by another officer.

All four suspects were convicted of murder and sentenced to 25 years to life. One was paroled after he suffered a stroke in 1998. A second suspect was paroled in 2010 and the third in 2019. The fourth suspect died while at his 14th parole hearing in prison in September, 2020.

Officer Gilroy had served with the NYPD for eight years and was assigned to Emergency Services Unit 8.