Phillip O. Nikolenko, a 26-year-old White man, was shot and killed just after midnight on May 10, 2014, inside the American Heritage Apartments on East Main Street in downtown Richmond, near the state Capitol. Multiple calls reporting gunfire brought officers to the building, where they found two men in an upper-floor hallway with gunshot wounds; Nikolenko was pronounced dead at the scene and the other man was taken to VCU Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.

Court records describe an earlier street confrontation that followed into the apartment building, escalating into a fight in the hallway outside the apartment of Quinn E. Hazelwood. Those records say Hazelwood pursued and was attacked, then shot both men, claiming self-defense; the other man is identified there as George A. Gapanovitch. Hazelwood was arrested at the scene and charged with voluntary manslaughter. Civil litigation between Hazelwood and Gapanovitch later revisited the same encounter.

Friends remembered Nikolenko as a father and an active member of the local automotive community, known by a nickname and connected to a shop that served as a social hub. Does anyone have information about the events that led to the hallway confrontation or the moments before the shooting?