Charles H. Pitman

On January 7, 1973, Mark Essex went on a racially motivated killing spree targeting White people in New Orleans, eventually culminating in a standoff in which he retreated to and barricaded himself in a concrete stairwell enclosure on the roof of a high-rise hotel. Lt. Colonel Pitman commandeered a CH-46 military helicopter to assist police, conducting landings near the hotel to transport armed officers, and conducting numerous strafing runs over the roof of the hotel, in which the officers inside the helicopter and Essex exchanged many rounds over many hours. Shortly before 9 p.m., after all negotiation and communication tactics had failed, and after spending almost seven hours crouched in the cubicle, Essex suddenly charged into the open with his rifle at waist height and his right fist aloft, shouting "Come and get me!" before being almost immediately shot by police sharpshooters positioned on the roofs of adjacent buildings. Pitman's helicopter, which had just approached to begin another strafing operation, also fired scores of rounds into Essex's body. The momentum of the bullets propelled his vertical body several feet before Essex fell on his back approximately twenty feet from the cubicle, having failed to kill or wound any further officers in this final act. The barrage of gunfire would continue for almost four minutes. An autopsy later revealed Essex had received more than 200 gunshot wounds.

Charles Henry Pitman Sr. (20 October 1935 – 13 February 2020) was a lieutenant general in the United States Marine Corps who served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Aviation. He was also involved in the 1980 Operation Eagle Claw. Pitman retired in 1990 and died of cancer in 2020.