Teen football player shot dead in front of his parents at grandfather's funeral
A teenager killed in a shooting after his grandfather's funeral has been identified as a high school football player. Terrance Jackson, a 15-year-old defensive end at Deerfield Beach High School, died in Saturday's shooting, which erupted during a family fight, Riviera Beach police spokeswoman AJ Walker said Monday.
Royce Freeman, 47, also died at the scene. A woman received injuries that were not believed to be life threatening.
No arrests had been made, but Walker said detectives had leads.
Tronicia and Terrance Jackson Sr. told CBS Miami that they witnessed their son die.
"When I got there, I started taking his bow tie off and he was looking at me and I said, 'Terrance, just breathe, Okay?'" said Tronicia. "He shook his head. I said 'mommy loves you, just listen to me. Don't leave me OK? Just breathe, baby' and he shook his head."
Terrance Jackson Sr had this to say: "At that moment, his whole life flashed in front of me. I can remember him being born, I was there. And to see him take his last breath… it's just too much."
Jackson, who went by "TeeJay," was supposed to accompany 20 members of his team on a weekend bus trip to colleges, but stayed behind to attend the funeral, Deerfield Beach coach Jevon Glenn was quoted by the South Florida Sun Sentinel as saying.
"The kids are heartbroken," he told the paper from Alabama, where the players toured Auburn University. He said the team was still grieving from the death of a player who died after being hit by a train Dec. 30.
The shooting happened Saturday afternoon across the street from Victory City Church, where the funeral had ended and only a few stragglers remained, Pastor Tywuante D. Lupoe said in a video statement posted on Facebook.
He said the church knew violence was a possibility at the funeral and had provided armed security during the service. A police officer also attended. The officer and guards had already left when the shooting happened. None of the victims were members of the church and none were shot on church property, Lupoe said.
Riviera Beach is a suburb of West Palm Beach.
Jackson's family set up a GoFundMe page to help with funeral costs.