Deadshot Mary: The NYPD Detective Who Took Down Criminals with Grit and a Gun
On June 20th, 1938, pedestrians near bustling Herald Square in Midtown Manhattan were treated to a scene right out of a dime store novel. A well-dressed middle-aged woman was wrestling with a man, attempting to subdue him. He pushed her in the face, but she retaliated, knocking him into submission with a swing of her long-strapped pocketbook. The man, a suspected jewel thief, was fortunate she had not used the gun tucked carefully into the folds of her dress. “Well, I got him,” she told two patrolmen who rushed to the scene, “and I can take him in myself.”
This was Mary ‘Dead Shot’ Shanley, the NYPD’s fourth-ever female detective, a crime-fighting force of nature credited with over 1,000 arrests. A fearless and unyielding officer, Shanley made history as the first female NYPD detective to use a firearm in the line of duty. A woman of formidable presence, she once subdued a suspect armed only with her pocketbook. She was not just an officer; she was a legend in her own time.
Early Life and Path to Law Enforcement
Mary ‘Dead Shot’ Shanley was born in Ireland in 1896. Her family immigrated to America, and in 1931, the boisterous and brave Mary joined the NYPD. This was an unusual step for a woman of her time, though not unheard of. During the first half of the 20th century, policewomen in America often worked undercover, on so-called “women’s beats.” “They are called upon regularly to trail or trap mashers, shoplifters, pickpockets, and fortune-tellers; to impersonate drug addicts and hardened convicts, to expose criminal medical practice, find lost persons, guide girls in trouble, break up fake matrimonial bureaus and perform special detective duty,” wrote the New York Times.
Mary quickly found herself in the NYPD pickpocket squad, where she would spend most of her career. By the time of her retirement in 1957, she would be a first-grade detective, with over 1,000 arrests under her belt.
The Dead Shot Mary Persona
Unlike many of her contemporaries, who preferred subtlety, Shanley was not shy about using her gun. Her willingness to draw her weapon, when necessary, earned her the nickname “Deadshot Mary.” She became something of a media sensation, with newspapers eagerly covering her exploits. One memorable case involved Shanley chasing a racketeer through the crowded streets of Fifth Avenue, gun in hand, before bringing him down—much to the astonishment of onlookers.
In 1931, Shanley made headlines when she arrested an innovative fortune-teller named Princess Juniata Flynn. According to a New York Times report:
Policewoman Shanley…unwrapped a striped bandanna handkerchief from the head of the ‘Princess,’ revealing a telephone headset resting snugly against her ears. The basket into which written questions were put revealed a false bottom, leading to an assistant who telephoned the inquiries to the seer, who would repeat the questions, amazing her clients.
Undercover policewomen would visit fortune-tellers, and after paying for their readings, arrest them. Shanley was particularly adept at exposing scams and bringing fraudsters to justice.
Becoming the First Female NYPD Officer to Fire a Gun on Duty
In December 1934, a change came to the NYPD. The 140 or so female police officers on the force were now required to carry guns (the practice had been voluntary before) when they prowled department stores, shopping centers, and crowded entertainment areas. They were issued 16-ounce revolvers, which were half the weight of the guns policemen carried, and were required to take target practice. “On the practice range in headquarters’ basement some of the women have proved more gun-shy than others,” a reporter patronizingly wrote. “But none has figured in an ‘I didn’t know it was loaded’ mishap. Neither has any hit the bullseye ten times in a row for a perfect 100, though several have broken 80.”
A few years later, Mary became the first policewoman in the history of the NYPD to use a gun during a capture and arrest when she fired into the air while pursuing a racketeer on 53rd Street. Around this time, local papers began to report on her exploits, amazed that a five-foot-eight, 160-pound woman had the strength to subdue grown men, sometimes two at a time! “Mary Shanley ordered two suspicious characters, neither of them weaklings, into the lobby of the Longacre Building in Times Square shortly after 10 o’clock last night,” the New York Times reported breathlessly. “They complied, for everything in the policewoman’s mien indicated determination—even the firm grasp of her right hand on her service pistol.”
A Career Marked by Controversy and Comebacks
In 1941, Shanley put her entire career in jeopardy when she shot her revolver while off duty and intoxicated in a bar in Jackson Heights, Queens. She was demoted from first-grade detective to policewoman and placed under suspension, but returned to duty after only a month and was later promoted to her original position.
Shanley was supremely confident in her abilities as a police officer. In an interview with Panama City Herald, she said: “I can usually tell in 20 minutes whether a suspect is legitimate or not.”
Deadshot Mary's Later Years and Legacy
As Mary got older, she didn’t lose her tough edge. In 1950, she was working at a Macy’s store in Queens when a 22-year-old mentally ill man burst into the store brandishing a .32 caliber automatic pistol. As customers ducked for cover behind display counters, Mary quietly approached the man from behind, gun in hand, and snapped, “Drop that gun, boy.” The gun fell to the floor, and the man was arrested.
Three years later, she was casing St. Patrick’s Cathedral, trailing a woman and man who were stealing pocketbooks at the church altar. When she attempted to arrest them, the woman began to pull and claw at Mary so her partner could get away. Mary fired warning shots to stop the man, terrifying shoppers on Fifth Avenue. This was a signature Mary move—firing her service weapon into the air instead of maiming a fleeing person. (This was before firing into the air became illegal in most states.)
Mary Shanley retired from the NYPD in 1957, after more than a quarter-century on the police force. She spent the rest of her life in the state where New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia had singled her out for demonstrating “not only keen intelligence and fine police work but also courage at a moment when courage was needed.”
Her niece, Mary Shanley Mullins, explained what motivated her aunt, who died in 1989 at the age of 93 and is buried in Long Island. “She was not interested in a husband. She enjoyed her life. She had her freedom and her good salary. She was just different. She was very outspoken, very opinionated. She didn’t fit in then as well as she probably would now. She was born too soon.”