Ernest Thomas, 30, was shot and killed in the courtyard of a building on Redfern Avenue in Far Rockaway, Queens, on the evening of June 5, 2020. The shooting happened about 7:20 p.m.; Thomas sustained gunshot wounds to his torso and leg and was taken by private vehicle to St. John’s Hospital, where he died roughly an hour and a half later. The NYPD began an investigation and asked the public for help identifying who fired the shots.

Thomas’s death was later linked by authorities to a long-term law enforcement probe into a drug and gun trafficking ring operating around the Redfern Houses. That 15-month investigation, begun in November 2019, used wiretaps and undercover officers and targeted a network alleged to deal cocaine, heroin and fentanyl and traffic illegal firearms. Reports identified Thomas as a member of the Hassock Boys and noted a prior arrest from 2011; his killing was described as connected to the broader criminal enterprise. No specific charge for his murder was announced as part of the large indictment that followed, and the inquiry into who shot Ernest Thomas remained open.

If anyone knew Thomas, his movements that night, or has information about the Redfern Houses operation, please come forward.