In the early morning hours of Halloween in 2016, a single gunshot shattered the quiet of Olive Street in Salem, New Jersey. Nineteen-year-old Shariff Aaron was discovered lying on the sidewalk on the southwest side of the street, about 50 feet from its intersection with East Broadway, having sustained a fatal gunshot wound to his neck. First responders arrived at the scene around 12:20 a.m.
to find bystanders, including the individual who had placed the 911 call, but none offered any information about what had transpired. Aaron was quickly airlifted to Christiana Hospital in Newark, Delaware, where he succumbed to his injury approximately six hours later.
An autopsy confirmed that a single bullet was the cause of his death. Despite the presence of people at the scene when authorities arrived, the investigation into Aaron's murder was immediately hampered by a lack of cooperation from the public. Law enforcement officials reported that no witnesses came forward with information, leaving them with no initial motive or suspects in the fatal shooting. The area where the shooting occurred was known for open-air drug activity, and another non-fatal shooting had taken place at the same intersection just a month prior.
Shariff Aaron's death marked the second murder in Salem City and the fourth in Salem County for that year. In the weeks following the shooting, police continued to appeal to the public for any information that might lead to an arrest. However, the case grew cold, and as of the latest available reports, the killing of the 19-year-old man remains unsolved, with no suspects having been publicly identified or taken into custody.
