Police Brutality / Individual record
Clifford Glover
Ten-year-old Clifford Glover was shot in the back while running from an unmarked NYPD car in Queens on April 28, 1973.
- Record ID
- PB-006
- Incident date
- April 28, 1973
- Date of death
- April 28, 1973
- Outcome
- Fatal
- Location
- Queens, NY
- Category
- Police shooting
What happened
Clifford was walking with his stepfather Add Armstead when a plainclothes officer's unmarked car approached. The pair ran, reportedly believing they were being robbed. Officer Thomas Shea shot the child in the back; the alleged gun was never found, and ballistic evidence showed the direction of the wound. Clifford's mother, Eloise Glover, later testified in proceedings arising from the killing.
Investigation & findings
Shea was tried and acquitted of murder but dismissed by the police department for unjustified use of his weapon. New York City later settled the family's claim for $115,000.
Source record details
- Source incident ID
- Historical source-derived record, pre-2015
Sources & records
- Primary source
- Additional source
- Methodology and national police killings trackingMapping Police Violence · Dataset/methodology
- Published historical compilation of Black people killed in police custody (1999–2014)SAGE journal / cited NAACP LDF memorial listing · 2016 · Secondary scholarly source