Detective Ernest Purgatorio

Ernest Purgatorio

Detective Ernest Purgatorio was shot and killed while he and several other officers investigated a call at a local hotel.

An elderly man was believed to have a young girl in his room and the girl's father wanted officers to retrieve her. When the detectives knocked on the man's door and identified themselves, he replied that he would shoot the first person through the door. One of the officers returned to the police station to obtain tear gas and then returned to the scene.

The officers kicked the door in, but the man stuck a rifle through the opened door and fired a shot, striking Detective Purgatorio. The man then climbed down a rope ladder to another room and exited to the hotel lobby where he was arrested by other officers.

The subject was convicted of manslaughter and served 10 years in prison.