Name: Brooklyn man who served 47 years in notorious 1973 hostage siege and cop killing suffers fatal stroke during parole hearing
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Brooklyn man who served 47 years in notorious 1973 hostage siege and cop killing suffers fatal stroke during parole hearing

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AdvertisementBy New York Daily NewsOct 13, 2020 at 6:08 pmAfter more than 40 years in prison for a 1973 cop killing, Salih Abdullah died without a final breath of freedom.The 74-year-old prisoner suffered a fatal stroke in the middle of his 14th parole hearing after exiting the virtual session to use the bathroom. He was found unconscious inside a lavatory at Wende Correctional Facility in Alden, N.Y., and died days later at a Buffalo hospital, officials said.AdvertisementAbdullah was the last of four co-defendants still locked up for an infamous two-day, 1973 Williamsburg sporting goods store robbery-turned-hostage situation that led to the shooting death of Officer Stephen Gilroy.Two other officers were wounded in blazing gun battles between the police and the armed suspects during the 47-hour siege.AdvertisementAbdullah was first eligible for parole in 1997, when he was just 51. All three of his co-defendants were already out of prison by the time of his latest hearing on Sept. 16.“They released our first co-defendant after 25 years," said his weeping crime partner Shu’aib Raheem, paroled a decade ago and now a Brooklyn social worker aiding young people involved in the criminal justice system.“Same case, identical charges,” Raheem said. "I was the leader. I’m the one who should have been in there still. They should have let him [Abdullah] go earlier. It tears me apart.“He deserved to come home," said Raheem. “He should have been home a long time ago.”Optimistic about being released, Abdullah lined up a place to live in advance of his hearing and planned on starting a business with his brother’s help.He was already 22 years past the minimum of his 25-year-to-life sentence, and his previous parole hearing raised hopes he could win his freedom.Inmates rejected by the parole board must often wait two years for another hearing. A shorter stretch, lawyers say, means they are considering release. Abdullah was hit with just a one-year wait in 2019.“When you get less than two years, that’s a good sign,” said his lawyer, Emilee Sahli. “Getting one year was a good indication they were seriously considering him for release."AdvertisementThe quartet was convicted of a crime that shocked Brooklyn.The four Black Sunni Muslim men said they were robbing the store to get weapons for self-defense. They feared for their lives after the massacre one day earlier of seven Black Sunni Muslims by a group of rival Black Muslims inside a Washington, D.C., home purchased by NBA Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul Jabbar.The four rifle-toting men entered John and Al’s Sporting Goods store in Williamsburg on Jan. 19, 1973, looking to rob the place of more guns. What followed was a 47-hour police siege of the shop as the robbers took 14 hostages inside.A shootout with cops in the first hour left Officer Stephen Gilroy dead, though authorities never determined whether he was hit by the stick-up men or friendly fire. The 29-year-old rookie cop was up for a promotion to sergeant just a few weeks after his death.“It was a serious case, the loss of an innocent officer’s life," said Raheem. “I was devastated when we were still in the store. I grieve and I will continue to grieve for this man [Gilroy]. It was a bad decision.”All four suspects were convicted in 1974 and sentenced to 25-years-to-life, making them eligible for parole before the turn of the century.AdvertisementOne by one, they walked free over the years, much to the chagrin of the the city’s police union.WeekdaysCatch up on the day’s top five stories every weekday afternoon. &gt; Raheem after a fierce, three-year battle with the Police Benevolent Association. Yusuf Mussadiq, after suffering a stroke, was released in 1998 on medical parole. And Dawud Rahman was freed last year, leaving only Abdullah behind bars for the 47-year-old killing.Abdullah was known as a mentor to younger men in the prison, a Muslim religious leader who painted and tutored inmates in math.“He became a new person,” said Abdullah’s distraught older brother, Willie Richardson. “His whole outlook of life changed. He was talking about starting a business to give back to the community and then this happened.”The head of the PBA offered little sympathy for Abdullah, commenting that justice was finally served.“P.O. Stephen Gilroy gave his life trying to rescue a dozen New Yorkers being held hostage by a terrorist criminal gang," said Patrick Lynch said. “His sacrifice can never be erased, and neither can his killers' crime. No cop-killer should be allowed to live to taste freedom.”AdvertisementBut Release Aging People in Prison executive director Jose Saldana said that the PBA should not have such an influential role in whether people are granted release — and that the state should pass the “” law that would allow anyone in prison for 15 years over the age of 55 to immediately go before the parole board.“The police got exactly what they always advocate for in this case: a needless and violent death of a Black man behind prison walls,” Saldana said. Advertisement

AdvertisementBy New York Daily NewsOct 13, 2020 at 6:08 pmAfter more than 40 years in prison for a 1973 cop killing, Salih Abdullah died without a final breath of freedom.The 74-year-old prisoner suffered a fatal stroke in the middle of his 14th parole hearing after exiting the virtual session to use the bathroom. He was found unconscious inside a lavatory at Wende Correctional Facility in Alden, N.Y., and died days later at a Buffalo hospital, officials said.AdvertisementAbdullah was the last of four co-defendants still locked up for an infamous two-day, 1973 Williamsburg sporting goods...

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Brooklyn man who served 47 years in notorious 1973 hostage siege and cop killing suffers fatal stroke during parole hearing

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