On November 19, 1986, nine New York City police officers, with nearly 20 outside the building, raided the Bronx apartment of Davis's sister. In the ensuing shootout, Davis, a Black man, escaped uninjured, and all six officers who had been shot survived. Police explained the raid as an attempt to question Davis as a multiple-murder suspect, finally obtained an arrest warrant for that, and reexplained the raid as an attempt to arrest him. On a massive manhunt's 17th day, he was traced to a Bronx building, and hid in an unknown family's unit. Telephoned by the police, he claimed to hold its occupants hostage. After nightlong negotiations, convinced by media presence that police would not shoot, he surrendered peacefully.