THE HOWARD JOHNSON SNIPER

If you look up the name, “Howard Johnson Sniper,” what you will find is about Mark Essex and his connection to both the Black Panther and the United States Navy. He was trained as a dental technician, not a sharpshooter, and certainly not a sniper. In fact, after experiencing racism from many of the Non-Commissioned officers (NCO) from the South, he asked for advanced training. He went to one day of advanced training with a handgun and never went back. Although, he stood up for himself, and was close with Lieutenant Robert Hatcher, a white officer who defended him when he struck an NCO he became increasingly depressed. Hatcher was also Essex’s football coach.

Lieutenant Robert Hatcher describes Essex as, “a pretty good athlete, small and a little thin but he was very fast and had good moves.” Hatcher also says that “he was very hard to get rattled.”

Enter Rodney Frank, a militant with criminal career from New Orleans. The Black Panthers were quite active in New Orleans. Did Frank join the Navy to escape punishment for his participation in the Desire Projects Black Panther shoot out with the Police? No one has seemed to answer this question. What has been described in books was Franks increasing influence over Essex. However, in A Terrible Thunder by Peter Hernon he describes Frank’s extensive police record before joining the Navy included armed robbery and simple rape. He was never prosecuted despite numerous arrests because of lack of evidence. He was tight lipped and suspicious. He most likely had the reputation of intimidating witnesses.

They started to spend less time on the base since the racism and extreme reaction to Essex defending himself increased the pressure on Essex. He was getting written up almost constantly. The clubs in San Diego they attended were known militant hangouts. Despite being involved he still maintained a friendly and cordial relationship with Lt. Hatcher.

Essex ended up in New Orleans after he went AWOL and court martialed. In a week, long spree between New Year’s Eve 1972 to January 7, 1973 they attribute ten dead, twenty-two wounded, and millions of property damage. This does not include the Rault Center Fire in which, Pat Burke, a cameraman for The Daily Record believed that Essex worked as a handyman. The Rault Center was set on fire twice in November. The first fire was set in a garbage can in a conference room that was put out quickly. The Rault Center was one of New Orleans first major high rises. When that fire was extinguished a fire was set higher up where the fire department ladders would be unable to reach. The bonus for the arsonist is was the fact the Rault Center did not have a sprinkler system installed and a hair salon was almost at the top. Once the chemicals began to catch fire it became almost bomb like. The Rault Center overlooks the Howard Johnson Hotel (which is now the New Orleans’ Holiday Inn Express) and made it a perfect location for police snipers to be able to have a perfect tactical position to see the roof of the Howard Johnson Hotel. Burning out the top floors of The Rault caused problems for the police who would still attempt to use it.

On New Year’s Eve, though the police lock up on Perdido came under attack. A white police cadet, Bruce Weatherford was running late for work. He was the target of whoever fired on the lockup. His friend, Alfred Harrell, a cadet who was black and a police Lieutenant Perez were shot. Harrell was shot through and through in the chest. The shot would go through him and hit Perez in the ankle. Police Chief Giarrusso arrived on scene after the shooting and a reporter as if appearing from nowhere asked him if he thought it was a militant group and he had no clue as they had just begun to investigate. Two black kids, one tall and one short were caught joy riding in a vehicle that belonged to an elderly relative who was at church. The reporter and two kids were not identified which is strange because once the events on January 7, 1973 began to unfold a maid, also unidentified said she was approached by three black men, one was very short. Mark Essex was described by Hernon as being 5’4 and having the build of a flyweight boxer.

There were several fires set in the Howard Johnson and even though shootings were occurring on the roof someone had to be running up and down the stairs, setting fires, and killing a doctor and his wife on their honey moon and an Assistant Deputy Chief Siragusa. In one of the YouTube videos of the WWL coverage of the shooter shows what looks to be smoke coming from a concrete bunker on the roof as if there is one standing and one kneeling shooter firing simultaneously.

The description that Lt. Hatcher gives of Essex and his firm belief in his athletic ability feeds the belief that Essex could constantly run up and down the stairs of the Howard Johnson on his own.

Of course, there is the weapon in question. The only weapon that they found was a .44 Magnum Carbine rifle. There is no mention of a scope being attached to the rifle. He would have to be extremely lucky to have delivered kill shots on police without being able to see them. Even more so with the weapon itself. A military sniper given the weapon specs, the height of the building, and Essex’s only being trained in boot camp for a weapon only gave a suspicious, “hmm,” as if he could not believe it and would say no more about the subject. Seeking a more concrete answer I asked my cousin Jeremy Johns, who is a champion hunter. He uses a .44 caliber rifle for hunting. It’s his favorite but admits, “it’s only accurate up to 150 feet.” He did say “a Springfield M1A has a similar look to a .44 magnum and would make a more accurate sniper weapon.”

Seeking confirmation that a .44 Magnum was not an accurate sniper rifle I spoke to firearms trainer and former police officer Ken Barker. He confirmed that “it’s not an accurate weapon for more than 200 feet.”

Father Peter Rogers, who passed away in 1997, wrote in his book, A Tragedy in My Parish that the police heard people yelling back and forth to each other on the roof. Pat Burke confirmed that is what he heard the police saying as he jostled for position trying to find a safe spot to take a picture.

Vietnam Era Gunner

Perhaps the odd thing is why Pat Burke’s CO Chuck Pittman brings his military helicopter in for a single lone gun man? The police had to believe that there was more than one person up there in order for them to agree to the Marines flying into the Central Business District, (CBD). One man with a .44 Caliber does not warrant multiple police snipers and a Marine with an M60 firing over a hundred bullets into one man’s body as he ran from the concrete cylinder to a trap door on the roof.

What about the other two people that the maid saw? Clearly, his body being found on the roof proves that Essex was there. What about the smoke from the two smoking muzzles shown on WWL television? Was Essex asked to fire off random shots in order to allow the others to get a way as some theorists believe dressed as hotel employees? What about the kids in the truck? How old were they? Random teenagers out joyriding conveniently in the area so late at night when a police station was under attack or were they simply dropping Essex off in a field where his .44 Magnum, Colt handgun, and a few firecrackers would elicit the response needed for his weapons to initiate him into the local militant group?

It would be almost impossible to determine now unless someone came forward. Most of the police officers and firefighters have either died or retired. Of course there is the matter of Hurricane Katrina destroying so much of the city that record archives were destroyed in the flood.