Incident Summary:
12/08/1995: An assailant attacked Freddy's Fashion Mart in Harlem, New York City, New York, United States. The assailant, identified as Roland James Smith (aka Aboudima Moulika), was armed with a .38 caliber revolver and a canister of paint thinner. He shot and wounded four people before barricading himself and others inside the building and starting a fire that destroyed the first floor of the building. Smith shot and killed himself, and the fire killed seven others who were trapped in the store. Smith had been among protesters picketing the store in an ongoing landlord-tenant dispute with neighboring stores, which some protesters viewed as racially motivated. Witnesses reported that Smith carried out the attack because he mistakenly believed that the owner of the store was engaging in racially discriminatory hiring practices.
Overview
GTD ID:
199512080005
When:
1995-12-08
Country:
United States
Region:
North America
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
New York
City:
New York City
Location Details:
125th Street
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Hostage Taking (Barricade Incident) |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Business |
Name of Entity |
Freddy's Fashion Mart |
Specific Description |
Store |
Nationality of Target |
United States |
Additional Information
Hostages |
Yes |
Number of Hostages |
7 |
US Hostages |
6 |
Hours of Kidnapping |
1 |
Outcome |
Hostage(s) killed (not during rescue attempt) |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
Yes |
Extent of Property Damage |
Major (likely > $1 million but < $1 billion) |
Value of Property Damage |
Unknown |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Firearms |
Handgun |
Incendiary |
Arson/Fire |
Weapon Details |
A .38-caliber revolver and paint thinner. |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | Yes |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Additional Information |
The victims who were wounded included employees Alan Grossberg, 35 and Isadew Chartan; and construction workers Patrick Glenn, 32 and Fronan O'Shea. The victims who were killed were store employees: Kareem Brunner, 23; Garnette Ramantar, 43; Olga Garcia, 19; Angelina Marrero, 19; Cynthia Martinez, 19; Luz Ramos, 21, and Mayra Rentas, 22. |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name |
Claimed Responsibility |
Black Nationalists |
No |
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
1 |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
Unknown |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
8 Fatalities / 4 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
8 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
7 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
1 |
Total Number of Injured |
4 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
3 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
Pam Belluck, "Death on 125th Street: The Overview; Police Say Killer in Harlem Fire Was a Laborer and a Protester," The New York Times, December 11, 1995. |
John Kifner, "Gunman and 7 others Die in Blaze at Harlem Store: Police See Link to Bitter Clash on Eviction," The New York Times, December 9, 1995. |
John J. Goldman, "8 Die as Gunman Sets Afire N.Y. Store Tied to Dispute: Violence: Harlem shop had been target of protests over clash between white owner and another business," Los Angeles Times, December 9, 1995. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties