Gateway High School Football Player Shot, Killed In N.C.
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Police in North Carolina have arrested a Texas man following a shooting that left one Gateway High School student dead and another wounded while they were on a trip to tour colleges and play in a football tournament.
A star athlete at Gateway, 18-year-old Darrell Turner Jr. was spending his summer touring colleges and playing football when the shooting happened Thursday in Durham, N.C. He was a linebacker for the Gateway Gators.
He was on a trip with several other students from the area visiting colleges, with a final stop in Florida.
"Touring most of the ACC schools, Duke, North Carolina; then, they were [going to] go to Florida," said Darrell Turner Sr., the victim's father. "There was a tournament down there that they were going to participate in. It was supposed to be just fun and football."
According to police in Durham, officers arrested 22-year-old Gabriel Gamez of San Antonio, Texas, just after 2 a.m. He was taken into custody at the Springhill Suites on McFarland Drive and placed in Durham County Jail without bond.
Investigators say Gamez is facing charges of murder and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury.
He was visiting town for a family funeral, according to police.
Police in Durham say the shooting happened "after an apparent altercation in a parking lot" near the hotel the students were staying at just after 10 p.m. The victims and suspect did not know each other.
Turner was taken to Duke Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Eleventh grader Thomas Woodson was wounded in the incident. Police say he was also taken to Duke Hospital to be treated for a gunshot wound to the leg.
"The whole district is just beside itself," said Cara Zanella, the communications director at Gateway High School. "These were really good kids. They're great students. They're great athletes."
Officials at the high school counselors will be available there on Monday for any students who need them.
RELATED LINKS:
Durham Police Department
WRAL.com: "Texas man charged with killing teen visiting Durham"
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