Massacre at Central Park

The Massacre at Central Park was a mass shooting in Central Park planned by William Rawlins and Ray Schoonover in order to assassinate Frank Castle, making it appear as a sting operation gone wrong organized by Samantha Reyes. However, Castle survived the massacre, while his wife, son, and daughter were murdered, which forced him to start the crusade to kill every single person involved in the massacre.
==Background==
===Operation Cerberus===
During the , William Rawlins teamed up to Ray Schoonover and launched the Operation Cerberus, with a goal to eliminate the terrorist groups in Afghanistan. Rawlins and Schoonover recruited Frank Castle, Billy Russo, Gunner Henderson, and several other United States Armed Forces soldiers into the Cerberus Squad, stationing them in Kandahar. However, since the Operation was illegal and unsanctioned by United States Congress or the CIA, Rawlins secretly established the smuggling of heroin from Afghanistan to the United States of America. Under Morty Bennett's supervision, the heroin was smuggled across the border inside the dead soldiers' bodies, and sold by Schoonover's subordinates.
As the Operation progressed, the squad's activities were discovered by Ahmad Zubair who was going to testify to the Homeland Security. Cerberus Squad kidnapped Zubair before he could testify, so Rawlins tortured him in order to find out who else knew about Operation Cerberus. As soon Zubair told Rawlins that nobody knows about the Operation, except for him, Rawlins labeled Zubair as a terrorist and ordered Castle to execute him before burying his body in an unmarked grave. However, the interrogation was filmed by Henderson who decided to expose the Operation and Rawlins' illicit agenda.
|Frank Castle violently attacks William Rawlins
Receiving the intel about the high-ranking terrorist leader, Rawlins ordered the Cerberus Squad to eliminate him, despite Castle's suspicions. However, the mission turned out to be an ambush, as several soldiers were killed in action by the insurgents, and Schoonover lost his arm. Castle then took a lead and took down multiple insurgents to clean up the evacuation area, so the rest of the squad was evacuated. Due to that ultimate failure, Operation Cerberus was shut down and the Cerberus Squad was demobilized.The Punisher: 1.03: Kandahar
===Information Leak===
Returning to the United States of America, Gunner Henderson sent the footage of Ahmad Zubair's execution to the NSA, in order to expose William Rawlins. The footage was received by David Lieberman who then sent it to Dinah Madani, so the Homeland Security could do something with it. Rawlins and Ray Schoonover discovered about the information leak, however, they assumed that Frank Castle was responsible for it, due to his constant insubordination.The Punisher: 1.02: Two Dead Men
Using his contact within Homeland Security, Rawlins found out about Lieberman and ordered Carson Wolf to get rid of him. Wolf and several Homeland Security agents tracked down Lieberman and chased him through the city before shooting him in the chest, seemingly killing him. As Lieberman was taken down, Wolf and Rawlins accused him of domestic terrorism and wiped out every single mention of him from the press.
==Massacre==
In order to eliminate the last witness, William Rawlins targeted Frank Castle who returned from Iraq to his family. Rawlins and Schoonover contacted Billy Russo, asking him to shoot down Castle himself, and although Russo refused to participate, he did not stop them either.The Punisher: 1.12: Home Using his criminal persona "Blacksmith," Ray Schoonover organized a big drug deal at Central Park with the Kitchen Irish, Mexican Cartel, the Dogs of Hell, and Dutton, planning to use it as a cover. The District Attorney's office received intel about the meeting at the Park, so Samantha Reyes organized a sting operation to arrest the Blacksmith, however, she decided not to clean the area of civilians due to fear of showing their hand. Upon Reyes' orders, the NYPD officer infiltrated the gangs to update the DA's office about the situation.Daredevil: 2.10: The Man in the Box
Together with Russo, Maria, Lisa, and Frank Castle, Jr., Castle went to Central Park as a family tradition. As soon as Russo left, the gangs arrived at the Park for a deal, waiting for the Blacksmith. When the Blacksmith failed to appear, the gangs grew suspicious and eventually figured out the undercover officer's true identity. Criminals then started a firefight, gunning down Maria, Lisa, Frank Jr. and the NYPD officer, while Castle was shot in the head.Daredevil: 2.04: Penny And Dime
==Aftermath==
===Frank Castle's War===
Determined to protect her reputation, Samantha Reyes coerced Gregory Tepper to destroy the evidence and kept news of the massacre from leaking for a week. Also, Reyes placed a "do not resuscitate" order on Frank Castle in an attempt to ensure his death. However, Castle managed to wake up and forced George Bach to take him out of the hospital to the Castle Residence. Frustrated and broken due to the death of his family, Castle decided to find and kill every single one responsible for the shootings.
Castle targeted the Kitchen Irish, the Dogs of Hell, and the Mexican Cartel for the involvement for shooting and started to eliminate all members of three gangs and other criminals along the way. During his killing spree, the Punisher had been confronted by the New York City Police Department and the District Attorney's office, as well as the Daredevil.Daredevil: 2.02: Dogs to a Gunfight Eventually, the Punisher was arrested and then imprisoned in Ryker's Island after admitting his guilt during the trial.
With Wilson Fisk's assistance, Castle found Dutton who informed him about the Blacksmith who organized a drug deal, before Castle murdered Dutton. Due to his own motivations, Fisk released Castle from prison, so he could continue his crusade on the streets and find the Blacksmith.Daredevil: 2.04: Penny And Dime Ray Schoonover then confronted the Punisher himself, killing Reyes and threatening to kill Karen Page, however, the Punisher successfully murdered Schoonover before leaving New York City and killing last survivors of the three gangs.Daredevil: 2.12: The Dark at the End of the Tunnel
===Exposing the Truth===
With all members of the Kitchen Irish, the Dogs of Hell, and the Mexican Cartel eliminated, Frank Castle finished his anti-criminal crusade.The Punisher: 1.01: 3 AM However, Castle was contacted by Micro who informed him that the massacre at Central Park was actually an assassination attempt, linked to his involvement in Operation Cerberus, as well as the murder of Ahmad Zubair. Castle joined forces with Micro to find the man in charge of the Cerberus and take him down.
Eventually, they discovered that Operation Cerberus was organized by William Rawlins who ordered to kill both Castle and Lieberman. Rawlins and Billy Russo confronted Castle personally, however, Russo betrayed Rawlins, allowing Castle to murder him. Castle then defeated Russo, finally avenging the deaths of his family, while the Homeland Security and the CIA to change the narrative of the events, removing any charges against Castle.The Punisher: 1.13: Memento Mori
==Appearances==
Appearances for Massacre at Central Park
In chronological order:
*The Punisher
**Season Two
***The Abyss (flashback)
**Season One
***Memento Mori (flashback)
*Daredevil
**Season Two
***Penny and Dime (mentioned)
***Kinbaku (newspaper)
***Seven Minutes in Heaven (mentioned)
***The Man in the Box (mentioned)
***.380 (mentioned)
***The Dark at the End of the Tunnel (mentioned)
*The Punisher
**Season One
***3 AM (mentioned)
***Two Dead Men (mentioned)
***Kandahar (mentioned)
***Gunner (mentioned)
***Home (mentioned)
**Season Two
***Roadhouse Blues (mentioned)
***Scar Tissue (mentioned)
***One Bad Day (mentioned)
***My Brother's Keeper (mentioned)
***Flustercluck (mentioned)
***The Dark Hearts of Men (mentioned)
==References==
Category:Events