Police Officer Richard Rainey and his partner, Officer John Scarangella, were responding to a burglary in St. Albans, Queens, New York City on May 1, 1981, when they pulled over two men in a white van. The two men inside the van were York and a fellow Black Liberation Army member Anthony LaBorde (later known as Abdul Majid). Upon being stopped, York and LaBorder exited the van and opened fire on the officers with semi-automatic handguns. John Scarangella was shot thirteen times including twice in the head in the exchange, later dying of his injuries while Rainey was shot eight times in the leg and back and was later left on disability for the rest of his life.
