On November 6, 1978, Det. Horace Ford was working off-duty as a teller at Manufacturers Hanover Bank, at 41-01 Kissena Boulevard in Flushing, New York. At approximately 10:45 a.m., an armed robber, 29-year-old David Robinson, jumped the counter near Ford, attempting to rob the bank. Ford himself jumped into action, trying to shield the nearby teller. He identified himself as a cop, shouted “freeze,” but the perp opened fire. The two exchanged shots. Ford was hit multiple times. Although mortally wounded, Ford returned fire. The subject fled, but died of his gunshot wounds while in the street outside the bank.
Det. Ford was rushed to Booth Memorial Hospital. While undergoing surgery, he passed away and was pronounced dead at approximately 1400 hours. He was 39 years old, a 12-year member of the force, and assigned to the Street Crime Unit. Ford had previously been the recipient of two commendations for outstanding bravery and garnered 24 other medals during his career. He was a veteran of more than 200 arrests. In 1974, Ebony Magazine wrote an article about the Street Crime Unit and Det. Ford’s undercover work was mentioned in the first paragraph. He was also pictured in the article.
Det. Ford was survived by his wife, Nancy, his daughter Melodi, his parents, two brothers and five sisters. Thousands of people attended Ford’s “Inspector’s funeral” at the Bethany Baptist Church in Jamaica, Queens, and a photo from the solemn event appeared on the front page of the New York Times. He was born in Fairmont, North Carolina and returned there to be interred. More than 40 of his Street Crime colleagues made the journey south to be at his burial.
On NYPD Medal Day, June 12, 1979, Ford was awarded the Department’s highest medallion, the Medal of Honor. In 2016, a canine headed to the Counterterrorism Division was named “Ford” in his honor.
Read more about Det. Ford in the following articles:
Horace Ford Spring 3100 – 1979 001
Horace Ford NY Times 11-11-1978
