Cathal Finney, arranged for Ty Sr. to be murdered by a criminal named Raymond Morris and make it look like an accident. Ty Sr.'s partner, John 'Sully' Sullivan, found out the truth, but decided not to report it so Maggie would still be entitled to her late husband's pension. Ty Jr. graduated from Columbia University, but had always wanted to be a cop like his father and despite being accepted to Fordham law, decided to take a year out and become a cop, to see if it was what he really wanted to do. At the insistence of Maggie, who called the Borough Commander, Ty was partnered up with his dad's old partner, Sully. The two clashed at first - Ty's rookie status contrasted with Sully's veteran "been there, done that" attitude. Ty had a hard time at first separating "justice" from the "justice system" and at first disagreed with Sully's "solving problems" style of policing; however, the two soon became friends, working in the squad car 55 Charlie. In 2000, Ty saved a news reporter from drowning and became a hero, attracting media coverage. This led his half-sister, Gwen Girard, to find Ty and meet up with him. Ty discovered his father had had another family, and that his family and Sully all seemed to know about this before he did. Angry at everyone around him, Ty moved out of his mother's house and into an apartment. He later moved in with Carlos Nieto as a roommate. After the events of September 11, Ty bonded with Alex Taylor, a firefighter who had lost her father in the attacks. Having both lost their fathers in the line of duty, the two realized they had something in common and began a relationship. This changed though after Ty got shot, and they started feeling differently. When he introduced Alex to Maggie as his "friend," this marked the beginning of the end. After Alex died, Ty felt very guilty. Ty was the best man at Sully's wedding to Tatiana and after she was murdered, he was one of the few people who did not give up on Sully after his descent into alcoholism. Ty, with help from Bosco and Doc, took Sully to a cabin where he helped his friend on the road to recovery. Ty had to be a chauffeur to Chief Hancock for a while, but later returned to 55 Charlie