Alexander Bolton was 29 when he was killed by gunfire outside an illegal after-hours club called The Lounge on North Lake Avenue in Albany on the night of October 9, 2021. The shooting wounded six other people and was recorded as the city’s 15th homicide of that year. Reports say the incident occurred after Bolton had been visiting his father in Averill Park and then went out with friends in Albany; his mother said he tried to crawl to safety after being shot.

A U.S. Army veteran who served with the 10th Mountain Division in Afghanistan, Bolton returned home with major injuries including a traumatic brain injury and an autoimmune disorder that caused chronic pain. Family remembered him as an artist, a strong chess player, a gifted storyteller and someone planning to use the GI Bill to study electrical engineering. Law enforcement investigated the shooting as involving biker gangs and arrested multiple people on weapons charges.