Family, friends gather to honor teenager fatally shot in Sheepshead Bay
Police sources said Coleman was shot in the chest while with teenage friends inside a bedroom at the Sheepshead Bay Houses on Avenue X.
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Family, friends and classmates brought balloons and candles to remember Kamardre Coleman - the teenager who was fatally shot on Monday in Sheepshead Bay.
The teen would have turned 17 years old on Friday.
“It’s his birthday,” said Edrionna Bland, the victim’s cousin. “It’s no candlelight or balloons. It is, but it’s his birthday.”
Police sources said Coleman was shot in the chest while with teenage friends inside a bedroom at the Sheepshead Bay Houses on Avenue X.
Sources said a teen was handling a gun when it went off. Investigators said the shooting may have been an accident.
“I don’t want to believe it, but he’s really gone,” said Bland. “When I walk into his house, his room is going to be empty, and I’m never going to see him again.”
Loved ones said the high school sophomore was a talented football and basketball player.
Friends described the victim as a good kid and funny, who had a positive impact on others.
“[Coleman] was someone who made everyone feel included and happy,” said one friend in front of the crowd during the vigil. “One thing I always remember is how he could make people smile no matter what was going on.”
A 16-year-old boy is charged with criminally negligent homicide and manslaughter.
Investigators have not released his name due to his age.
News 12 reached out to that teen’s attorney, who called the fatal shooting "devastating" and a "heartbreaking tragedy."
The attorney told News 12 that the teen was Coleman’s football teammates and is the son of an NYPD officer – but the gun involved in the shooting did not belong to that NYPD officer.
