Essex confronted 11 hours of siege during which he killed 7 and wounded 13 people, including a police officer with a a 5-shot Ruger Model 44 .44-caliber semi-automatic carbine. Essex was barraged with fatal gunfire from police sharpshooters on the roofs of adjacent buildings as well as the automatic weapons aboard a helicopter. An autopsy later revealed more than 200 gunshot wounds. On New Year's Eve 1972 Essex had already killed two cops. Before the attack the television station WWL received a handwritten note from Essex. It read: "Africa greets you. On December 31, 1972, aprx. 11 p.m., the downtown New Orleans Police Department will be attacked. Reason — many, but the death of two innocent brothers will be avenged. And many others."