Heinrichs normally celebrated the 8 AM Sunday Mass, but on Sunday, February 23, 1908, as he had a meeting scheduled that day, he switched with the priest Wulstan Workman to take the 6 AM "Workingmen's Mass. Among attending Mass was fifty-year-old Giuseppe Alia (aka Giuseppe Guaraccio and Angelo Gabriele),"Awful Crime of Anachist", Indicator, Volume 19, Number 4, February 29, 1908 an unemployed shoemakerNew York Times, February 24, 1908. who had recently emigrated from Avola, Sicily. Alia took Communion at altar rail then flung the Host at the priest and drew a revolver. Seeing the gun, the altar boy tried to warn the priest, but Alia opened fire and shot Fr. Heinrichs in the chest. Fr. Heinrichs first attempted to retrieve the fallen Host and collapsed mortally wounded on the step of the Altar of Our Lady, and died minutes later."The Assassination of Father Leo Heinrichs," The Messenger, vol.XLIX, Fordham University, 1908, p. 415
