Man, 25, fatally shot in head during clash in Bronx NYCHA apartment he was visiting

A 25-year-old man was fatally shot in the head during a clash inside a Bronx NYCHA apartment he was visiting, police said Wednesday.

Cops responding to a report of shots fired in the Morrisania Houses on Washington Ave. near E. 169th St. found Randell Timber unconscious inside the first-floor apartment around 10:55 p.m. Tuesday, according to police.

“All of the sudden, I heard ‘Pow! Pow!’ It echoed so f---ing loud,” said upstairs neighbor Idalia Rodriguez, 57. “I said, ‘Hold on, these were gunshots, somebody got shot.’”

Timber’s killer had fled by the time cops arrived, and no weapons were recovered inside the apartment.

The victim died at the scene.

On Wednesday, rumors swirled that the chaos unfolded after Timber had left the apartment but went back when he realized he’d forgotten his glasses.

“[They] kept bullying him, he tried to leave,” said Timber’s friend Kimberley Baez, 21. “They was just bullying him and stuff. Saying stuff that shouldn’t be said. Guy pulled the trigger, that bullet didn’t come out. The other guy pulled the trigger, everything popped off.”

Two people found in the apartment with Timber were taken into custody, questioned and released, cops said. No arrests have been made.

Timber was visiting the apartment and lived in the Van Nest section of the Bronx, according to police.

“He was a good person,” said Baez. “He had a good sense of humor, always looked out for other people as well. Good spirit. I’m just shocked.”

Timber’s ex-girlfriend told the Daily News the man had lived in the Bronx all his life.

“He was a nice, sweet guy,” said Jasmine Tucker. “He was respectful, kind-hearted. Did everything in his power to please people.”

Timber had been looking for a job in security at the time of the shooting.

“He was trying to get his life together,” said Tucker. “He is not a fighter at all. He will say stuff, but he’s not a fighter.”

Police are still searching for the shooter.

“I don’t know why those people would take his life,” said Tucker. “I can’t eat, I can’t sleep. My mom is the same way.”

Neighbors described the apartment where the shooting happened as a hotspot for trouble.

“These people start arguing. From the argument, they go into fighting. [From] the fighting, they come back with weapons,” Rodriguez said. “It happens often. Crazy, crazy. You’re not safe in here.”

“There’s always something going down in that apartment,” another neighbor remarked.

Timber was arrested twice in 2019, for assault and for rape, but it was not clear if his criminal history had anything to do with his death.