patrolman patrick o’connor iii

emergency service squad 1

november 24, 1971

It was Thanksgiving Eve, November 24, 1971. The streets in Brooklyn were bone-cold, dark and rain-soaked.
Patrolman Patrick O’Connor, flying in from Truck 1, became “Adam-6” with Patrolman Maurice Fitzgerald, Emergency Squad 6.
On the Gowanus Expressway near 55th Street, they came upon a disabled vehicle and lit up their roof lights to protect the passengers.
Then, without warning, their REP was violently struck from the rear by a speeding oil tanker-truck,
launching the Emergency cops 200 feet from the point of impact.
Pinned in the wreckage, both officers were removed and rushed to Lutheran Medical Center.

Patrolman Fitzgerald barely survived serious injury; Patrolman O’Connor did not.

Two police generations followed the family tradition;
Patrolman O’Connor’s sons Patrick IV, ESU, and James, Street Crime Unit and Firearms Task Force, are both retired.
His grandson Patrick V, continues the honor as a proud NYPD member.