Murder of An Italian

New York, 1895

An Innocent Man Shot During a Fight in a Shanty.

A murder occurred on the Long Island railroad dock, in Long Island City, Thursday morning. A number of the Italians lived in a shanty on the dock. A row was started when Antonio Rollo wanted to go to sleep. Rollo put out the oil torch which furnished light in the shanty and Nicolo Pierre objected.

A fight ensued, during which pieces of iron were used as weapons. The belligerents were finally separated by their comrades and when quiet was restored the laborers all retired. At daybreak hostilities were renewed to such an extent between Rollo and Pierre that the other Italians took sides. Rollo was getting the worst of the fight, when his godfather and cousin, Tony Pierre, threw his arms around Rollo to save him from the blows rained upon him by Pierre. Rocco Pierre handed his cousin, Nicolo, a revolver. The latter, with an oath, aimed the pistol at his antagonist, Rollo, and pulled the trigger. Tony Pierre, the cousin of Antonio Rollo, fell to the floor unconscious. Nicolo, instead of shooting Antonio, had shot the godfather.

The bullet struck the man in the forehead over the left eye and went out the back of his head. The man was removed to St. John's hospital, where he died at 10 A. M.

Immediately after the shooting Nicolo Pierre and his cousin, Rocco, who gave him the revolver, ran across the meadows and made their escape.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, March 15, 1895, p. 8.