In the early evening of a December day, violence shattered the calm of a quiet Bronx block. Timothy Hairston, a 27-year-old male, was found unconscious and unresponsive in front of the Lincoln Care Drugs at 270 E. 165th St. in the Melrose neighborhood. He had been shot multiple times in his upper torso. Next to his body lay a Hi-Point. 380 caliber firearm.
Emergency services were called to the scene around 5:25 p.m. and rushed Hairston to Lincoln Hospital.
Despite their efforts, he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead. In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, the New York Police Department had no suspects and had made no arrests, leaving a community stunned by the brazen afternoon attack. An employee of a neighboring beauty supply store recalled hearing four gunshots before seeing Hairston fall to the ground.
The investigation into Hairston's death continued, and it was eventually linked to the activities of a notorious street gang. In a major crackdown, law enforcement announced a 97-count indictment against 27 alleged members of '6 Wild,' a subset of the Bloods gang. The indictment accused the gang of a five-year reign of terror in the Melrose section of the Bronx, which included murders, attempted murders, drug trafficking, and other violent crimes.
Authorities alleged that the shooting death of Timothy Hairston in December 2014 was one of the homicides committed by members of this criminal organization. The extensive investigation, a joint effort by the NYPD Gang Unit, the Bronx District Attorney's Office, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, led to the arrests of numerous gang members. The charges against them included second-degree murder, conspiracy, and operating as a major trafficker, bringing a measure of justice for Hairston and other victims of the gang's violence.
