Khalif Gethers, 40, was shot in the chest outside the Langston Hughes Houses at 335 Sutter Avenue in Brooklyn in the early morning of July 5, 2020, as Fourth of July crowds and fireworks kept parts of the city awake. The shooting occurred just after dawn, about 5:15 a.m., in a parking area beside a children’s playground. Officers found him on the ground with blood on the pavement; a red designer Hilfiger hat and a boom box were left near the scene and music was still audible as if the night had not yet ended.

Gethers was taken to Brookdale University Medical Center, where he died. The area was sealed for investigation, but witnesses at the scene were reported to be unwilling to speak and no arrests or suspects were publicly identified in the immediate reporting. Who fired, from where, and why remain unanswered.

If anyone who knew Khalif or who was in the Langston Hughes Houses area that morning has information, please share it with the investigators handling the case.