At approximately one o’clock in the morning on October 8, 1956, 38-year-old, off-duty Det. Second Grade William F. Christman stopped at Carmichael’s Bar and Grill at 104-06 Liberty Avenue in Ozone Park, Queens to grab a drink. He and the bartender got into a discussion about the New York Yankees, then playing in the World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers. A 25-year-old, unemployed chimney sweep named Robert Thomson entered the bar and joined the conversation, which eventually turned sour. Thompson and Christman got into a fight, which the bartender shut down. Thompson went home and waited for the Detective to leave the bar. About 25 minutes later, when Christman approached his car parked alongside the curb next to the IND A train line stairwell, Thomson showed up with a Winchester shotgun and the argument reignited. Eventually Thompson shot Christman in the chest, then returned to his home and went to sleep. A passing motorist saw Christman’s body lying in the street alongside his car and called police. Det. Christman and his wife also lived in Ozone Park and were the parents of five children. Christman had been a member of the NYPD for 13 years and, the evening before he was shot, had just completed a six-hour tour of overtime duty at the Bedford Avenue Stationhouse in Brooklyn, formerly known as “The Castle” which housed the 75th Precinct. Thomson was ordered to undergo psychiatric evaluation after the killing. You can read more about the incident that led to Det. Christman’s death on the DEA website.