On the afternoon of March 12, 2015, 31-year-old Wilson Valdez was working at a convenience store on the 600 block of Berckman Street in Plainfield, New Jersey, when a drive-by shooting erupted. Valdez was reportedly shielding a 4-year-old child when he was struck by a stray bullet and killed; investigators determined he was an innocent bystander and not the intended target.

The Union County Homicide Task Force tied the attack to gang violence and identified the shooter as 26-year-old Abdul Ward, a member of the Elizabeth-based 111 N.H.C. Street gang. Police say eight rounds were fired; officers pursued a vehicle attempting to flee, recovered a handgun, and arrested Ward at the scene.

Ward later admitted his role in the shooting and was sentenced in March 2018 to 27 and a half years in state prison, with a requirement to serve at least 85 percent of the term before becoming eligible for parole. Does anyone have memories of Wilson or information about that stretch of Berckman Street in 2015?