On a Saturday evening in March 2018, a fatal shooting occurred inside a restaurant on Springfield Avenue in Maplewood. The victim was 30-year-old Altariq A. Brown of Livingston; the shooting happened at approximately 8:20 p.m. on March 24, and Brown was pronounced dead at the scene about fifteen minutes later. The Maplewood Police Department and the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide/Major Crimes Task Force opened an investigation.

In the days after the killing no suspects had been identified and no arrests were made. Friends said Brown was a self-published author who had recently held a book signing for his novel. Despite continued investigation, the case went cold over the following year and remains unsolved with no arrests publicly announced.

If anyone was in the restaurant that evening or has information about Altariq Brown’s death, please come forward.