Usman Pirzada was 21 and a college student training to become a pilot when he was shot during what police say began as a drug sale in Schenectady, New York. The shooting occurred the evening of December 19, 2023 near Lincoln Avenue and Steuben Street in the Hamilton Hill neighborhood. Officers found Pirzada with a gunshot wound at 8:49 p.m.; he was taken to Albany Medical Center Hospital and died the following morning. Investigators recovered several shell casings at the scene.

Police identified two teenage suspects who had arranged to meet Pirzada under the pretense of buying marijuana. Authorities say 18-year-old Jevoun Drake brandished a pistol, panicked and fired when Pirzada, seated in the back of a car, allegedly reached for the weapon after 18-year-old Jose Amey took the marijuana. Drake was arrested the same day and Amey the next day. Court documents quote the district attorney as saying both had planned the robbery, that murder was not their initial intent, and that both expressed remorse for their actions.

Does anyone have information about Pirzada’s activities that night or about the Hamilton Hill area that could help clarify the timeline?