Street sign for officer slain in 1947

William Gargan stopped by The Villager’s office last Friday to look at back issues for articles on his father, Thomas J. Gargan, a Sixth Precinct police officer who was slain in the line of duty on Aug. 17, 1947. Officer Gargan and his partner had responded to a burglary at 132 Bank St., a building owned by an artist, Philip Evergood. Evergood, who was on vacation on Fire Island, kept a Very pistol, also known as a flare gun, along with 12-gauge shotgun shells, which the gun was capable of firing. The burglar fatally shot Officer Gargan with the Very pistol and was killed by Gargan’s partner. The Villager raised a fund for the fallen officer’s family, without which they couldn’t have paid the mortgage on their Queens home. William Gargan, a former court officer now living on Long Island, said he’s working with the Sixth Precinct community affairs office to get an honorary street co-naming sign for his father put up on Bank St. He’s certain it will be approved by the City Council.