ANATOMY OF A DRIVE-BY - WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM AN UNEXPECTED DEATH

This is an ethnographic study of a shooting that was labeled a drive-b y and that resulted in the death of a fifteen-year-old boy. This homic ide is seen as an unexpected event that in turn is used as an investig ative tool to enhance data collected through observation and in-depth interview methods. I suggest that behaviors revealed by unexpected eve nts can form the basis for theoretical and methodological concepts use ful for the study of minority injecting drug users and other hidden po pulations at high risk to HIV infection and substance abuse.