College Basketball Star, 21, Killed During Mass Shooting in N.Y.C.: 'What a Light [He] Was'
Rick Scuteri/AP/Shutterstock Darius Lee
A 21-year-old college basketball player was shot and killed early Monday morning in New York City, the NYPD and Houston Baptist University confirmed.
According to the New York Police Department, police responded to reports of shots fired at approximately 12:36 a.m. at East 139th St. and Fifth Ave. in Manhattan. When officers arrived at the scene, they found nine people with gunshot wounds — two females and seven males.
All were transferred to area hospitals where one of the victims, a 21-year-old male, was pronounced dead. The NYPD confirmed to PEOPLE that the 21-year-old victim has been identified as Darius Lee.
A firearm was recovered at the scene, according to the NYPD, though no one has yet been arrested in connection with the shooting and investigations are ongoing.
Lee, who was from Harlem, New York, played for Houston Baptist University, where he was on track to graduate with his bachelor's degree in December and was recently named HBU Robbie Robertson Male Student-Athlete of the Year, according to a statement from the school.
"We are devastated. Darius was a remarkable young man who loved the Lord, his mom, his family, his teammates, his friends and his entire HBU family," said Ron Cottrell, the James Sears Bryant Head Men's Basketball Coach at HBU in a statement from the school.
He continued, "As great of a basketball player as he was, he was an even better person. I can't even think of basketball right now. I can only think of what a light Darius was during his short time on earth. He was a joy to coach and we loved him so much."
The university's director of athletics Steve Moniaci said in a statement that the incident is, "unfortunately, yet again, another example of the senseless gun violence that seems to be plaguing our country right now and we all pray it will cease."
