In this episode of Gangland Wire, retired Kansas City Police Intelligence Unit detective Gary Jenkins examines one of the most puzzling events in organized crime history—the 1971 shooting of Joe Colombo.

At the height of his influence, Colombo stood before a crowd of nearly 50,000 at Italian Unity Day in New York City when he was gunned down by Jerome A. Johnson, a man posing as a journalist with a camera. The brazen daylight attack shocked both the public and law enforcement, immediately raising questions about motive, planning, and whether larger forces were at work.