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Gregore J. Sambor (February 22, 1928 - September 15, 2015) was an American Police Commissioner of the Philadelphia Police Department from 1984 to 1985. He had a major role in the 1985 bombing of MOVE, in which six adults and five children died after he told firefighters to stand down and "let the fire burn". Sambor argued the group was a terrorist organization.

1985 MOVE bombing

On May 13, 1985, nearly 500 police officers moved in to execute arrest warrants on MOVE's members. Police commissioner Sambor read a long speech to the members of the organization. When they didn't respond, police moved in to forcibly remove them from the premises, leading to an armed standoff. After the police used over ten thousand rounds of ammunition, Sambor ordered the compound be breached. Two breaching charges made from an FBI-supplied explosive were dropped on the roof of the building, which ignited the fuel of a gasoline-powered generator there. Ramona Africa, the only adult survivor, reported that police shot at anyone attempting to escape the fire. In the end, 11 MOVE members, including five children, were killed in the blaze and 250 civilians were left homeless.

Sambor resigned as police commissioner in November of that year. He said later that he believed Mayor W. Wilson Goode would have fired him by the end of the year if he had not resigned. His resignation came less than a week after hearings into the bombing and fire concluded, during which his actions were portrayed as hasty and ill-considered, and evidence first emerged that he had ordered the fire department to let the fire continue to burn.

References

1. Demby, Gene. "30 Years Later, I'm Still Trying To Make Sense Of The MOVE Bombing". NPR. NPR. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
2. Shapiro, Michael J (June 17, 2010). The Time of the City: Politics, Philosophy and Genre. Routledge. p. 108. ISBN 9781136977879.
3. Demby, Gene (May 13, 2015). "I'm from Philly 30 years later I'm still trying to make sense of the MOVE bombing". Retrieved March 18, 2018.
4. Account of 1985 incident from USA Today.
5. Stevens, William K. (14 May 1985). "Police Drop Bomb on Radicals' Home in Philadelphia". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 12 June 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
6. "Philadelphia MOVE Bombing Still Haunts Survivors". NPR. Retrieved 2013-05-14.
7. Terry, Don (1996-06-25). "Philadelphia Held Liable For Firebomb Fatal to 11". The New York Times. Retrieved May 13, 2010.
8. "I Was Expendable, Sambor Learned After MOVE Fiasco". The Morning Call. 27 February 1986. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
9. Stevens, William K.; Times, Special To the New York (14 November 1985). "Head Of Philadelphia Police Quits in Wake of Furor Over Bombing". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 November 2023.

• 1928 births
• 2015 deaths
• Commissioners of the Philadelphia Police Department