After pulling over a vehicle on Rogers Avenue that displayed incorrect license plates, Officer Timoshenko and his partner Herman Yan were shot as they approached the vehicle. The three occupants ditched the car a few blocks away and fled.

Officer Yan was saved by his bullet-resistant vest, but officer Timoshenko was struck in his neck and died from his injuries after there were no signs of him recovering from a coma.

All three people in the stolen vehicle were career criminals. One was captured in Far Rockaway and provided police with the identities of the other two, who had fled across Long Island, north to Connecticut, and east to Pennsylvania, where they were spotted along Interstate 80 and apprehended in the forest bordering the highway.

The two shooters were found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The third man was found guilty of gun possession charges and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

An NYPD K9 officer was named in honor of officer Timoshenko, and he and his partner, Detective Benny Colecchia, now sniff out illegal guns and carry on the crime-fighting legacy of Russel Timoshenko.