By David Giambusso and James Queally/The Star-Ledger

NEWARK — Throughout the 1990s, Hykine Johnson rose through the ranks of "Sex, Money, Murder," eventually becoming a leader in the subset of the notorious Bloods street gang.

He later tried to leave the street life behind and reinvent himself as a writer and filmmaker, penning a novel loosely based on his past life.

But when he was gunned down inside a convenience store in Newark Friday night, the man known on the street as "Hak" had developed another role, two high-ranking law enforcement officials said Saturday — federal informant.

Johnson was shot and killed at about 7:45 p.m. inside the ZAP Sunoco station and car wash on Court and Washington streets, just a few blocks from the steps of City Hall. His body was found in the station’s convenience store amid broken glass shattered by bullets. He had been shot multiple times, authorities said.

"It appears, at this point in the investigation, that the victim was targeted," Essex County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Thomas S. Fennelly said in a statement early Saturday.

Authorities declined to say whether Johnson’s role as an informant led to his killing. The law enforcement officials who confirmed he was working for the feds requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case publicly. Similarly, the FBI declined to answer multiple queries about Johnson’s alleged involvement with federal law enforcement operations.

Johnson had a long criminal record. In 1999, he was convicted of manufacturing heroin and cocaine with the intent to distribute. Two years later, he was convicted of a weapons charge. He was released from federal prison in Pennsylvania in 2009, after serving time for what he said was a weapons charge.

But he also tried to serve as a peacemaker.

In February, after the death of pop star Whitney Houston, Johnson led a citywide call for peace, demanding gang leaders throughout the Newark lay down their weapons on the day of Houston’s funeral. Police did not report any shootings or homicides that day.

In an interview earlier this year with The Star-Ledger, Johnson said he wrote his first book while serving time in federal prison in Pennsylvania. After he was released, he began taking film-making classes in Newark and had recently screened his latest work to several audiences in the area.

The books and films, titled "Sex, Money, And You Already Know," followed the life of a high-level gang member dubbed "O.G. HAK" and were fictionalized accounts of Johnson’s time as a member of Newark’s largest Bloods set.

Saturday, friends and family gathered at a makeshift memorial outside of the Zap store, but declined to be interviewed.

Dashaun "Jiwe" Morris, another Newark author who wrote about his life in the Bloods gang, said Saturday that he and Johnson shared a unique bond.

"He was my comrade," Jiwe said. "This was a major, major blow."

When Johnson was released from federal prison after writing his novel, he turned to Jiwe, whom he knew from the streets, for advice.

"Once he came home, I already had my book," Jiwe said, referring to his novel, "War of the Bloods in My Veins." The two men, determined to use their experience as a warning to others to stay away from gang life, "connected on a level nobody else really could deal with," Jiwe said.

Jiwe said Johnson’s death was a reminder that street life can catch up with anyone no matter how far removed.

"No one is exempt from this," he said.

Star-Ledger staff writer Tomas Dinges contributed to this report.

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