Community gathers to demand end to gun violence after fatal shooting of Jayden Goodridge in the Bronx
NEW YORK - Dozens of people returned to the scene where a 21-year-old was shot and killed in the Bronx to demand an end to gun violence Wednesday.
The victim's mentor and a witness both told CBS2's Tim McNicholas they're perplexed by the senseless shooting.
Anti-violence activists are outraged, and a basketball coach is heartbroken. All of it was sparked by the killing of 21-year-old Jayden Goodridge. He was a former basketball player at Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains and with the Riverside Hawks program.
"I still can't believe it," Riverside Coach Andre Thomas said. "The exact message was, 'Dre, my baby is gone.'"
Thomas says Goodridge's mom texted him the terrible news.
"I just ran out to the living room and I fell. I didn't know how to take it," Thomas said.
NYPD sources say Goodridge and two of his friends were walking near East 149th Street and Jackson Avenue in Mott Haven on Sunday evening when a person on an e-bike fired about 10 shots at the group.
One of the friends who survived told CBS2 off-camera that he hid behind a car when they heard the gunfire. He then heard Goodridge shouting that he'd been shot.
That friend called 911 and then waved over FDNY personnel who quickly worked to save Goodridge, but he died the next day.
"I don't think that person knows what they took away when they took Jayden from us," Thomas said.
At the scene of the shooting Wednesday, the anti-violence group S.O.S. urged New Yorkers to denounce gun violence.
"Not everything has to end with violence or somebody dying," S.O.S. Bronx program manager Marisol Rivera said.
"Always smiling. always joking around," Thomas said.
Thomas describes Goodridge as a friendly guy who outworked and outplayed others on the court despite being only 5-foot-3.
"Heart over height, and that's what Jayden always expressed on and off the court," Thomas said.
Goodridge's 21-year-old friend suffered a graze wound.
Detectives are still looking into why that person on the e-bike fired at the group, and officers are still looking for that shooter.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit a tip via their website or via DM on Twitter, @NYPDTips. All calls are kept confidential.
