On the evening of April 18, 2016, gunfire broke out near the Veterans of Foreign Wars post on Corlies Avenue in Neptune, New Jersey, during a repast with about 100 people inside. Officers on patrol arrived around 8 p.m. to find a large crowd in the rear parking lot and 33-year-old Neptune City resident Corey Basden lying on the ground with multiple gunshot wounds. Paramedics pronounced Basden dead at 8:15 p.m.

An 18-month investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and the Neptune Township Police Department identified Calvin Little C Johnson of Neptune Township as the shooter. Johnson was charged October 31, 2017; he later pleaded guilty to first-degree aggravated manslaughter after admitting he shot Basden multiple times and was sentenced to 20 years in state prison under the No Early Release Act, to run consecutively to an existing sentence, with five years of parole supervision to follow. Investigators said they believed there might be additional witnesses who had not come forward.

If anyone was at the VFW that night or has information that wasn’t shared with investigators, please come forward.