Just…. Dang… :(

 

LOS ANGELES —  The weekend shooting death of a high school football star outside his home “may” be prosecuted as a hate crime, the mayor of Los Angeles said Tuesday.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa attended a candlelight vigil to remember Jamiel Andre Shaw, a 17-year-old student who was gunned down Sunday in what police have said was a random, unprovoked gang attack.

“We don’t know right now the nature, though we understand it could be,” Villaraigosa said.

Hundreds of friends, relatives and teachers of the slain student stood on the sidewalk in the Crenshaw area Tuesday where the teen was shot, just a few yards from his home. They spoke fondly of his athletic prowess and good sense of humor.

“He wouldn’t do nothing to nobody, and they took him away for no reason,” mourner Kristen Blanton told MyFOXLA.com. “He could have been successful.”

Shaw, a standout running back at Los Angeles High School and the Southern League’s most valuable player last season, had been recruited by universities including Stanford.

“A kid like that doesn’t come around too often,” Hardy Williams, the coach of the Los Angeles High School football team, told MyFOXLA.com.

Jamiel was an all-city first-team selection last season after he rushed for 1,052 yards, averaging more than 14 yards per carry, and scored 10 touchdowns. He also ran track.

His life ended Sunday night when police said two Hispanic gang members pulled up in a car and asked Shaw “Where you from?” — code for which gang did he belong to. Shaw was black.

Shaw did not respond, Los Angeles police Det. Frank Carrillo told MyFOXLA.com.

“They shot him anyway,” Carrillo said.

Shaw’s death comes amid an increase in gang violence in Los Angeles. On Tuesday, suspected Hispanic gang members shot a 6-year-old boy in the head after flashing gang signs. The child remains hospitalized in critical condition.

Villaraigosa, meeting with Police Chief William J. Bratton before the vigil, said that gang-related homicides were down despite the recent violence, the Los Angeles Times reported.

“What is particularly traumatic is that all these people were just innocent,” Villaraigosa said at the press conference. “We have to stand up and work together to begin to take on this issue of violence in this city. We still haven’t done a good enough job.”

Shaw’s mother, Army Sgt. Anita Shaw, was on her way home from Iraq, where she had been serving her second tour since August 2007 with the Regimental Support Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, the Army told FOXNews.com.

“We were greatly saddened to learn of the death of Sgt. Shaw’s son, Jamiel,” Army Lt. Col. Anne Edgecomb said in an e-mail. “Our Army has great soldiers who stand ready to support and defend our nation and stand side-by-side with their families to support each other in time of need.

“When tragedy strikes one family, it reaches the entire Army family,” she said. “Sgt. Shaw and her family are in our thoughts during this most difficult time.”

Shaw’s father appealed Tuesday for the public’s help in identifying the gunmen. He also said he didn’t believe his son’s killing was a hate crime.

“I don’t see it as black and brown,” the elder Shaw told mourners. “I see it as gang problem.”

A $50,000 reward has been offered for tips leading to the arrest of Shaw’s killers.

Hugs and condolences go out to the Shaw family.

Wounded Army officer has last ball thrown by Favre

I love this story as it ties a real American Hero with Football!(I really have tried to overcome my love of the game. But, I am a junkie.)Our thanks go out to Lt.Col Gadson and his family for their sacrifices for our country.

Associated Press – March 4, 2008 

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) – The ball that Brett Farve threw on his last play in the NFL is owned by an Army officer who lost both legs in a roadside bomb in Iraq.

Lt. Col. Greg Gadson, who has been an inspirational figure for the New York Giants during their Super Bowl run, was given the ball by Corey Webster after the cornerback intercepted Favre’s pass in overtime in the NFC title game on Jan. 20.

The pick set up a game-winning 47-yard field goal by Lawrence Tynes in a 23-20 win that sent the Giants to Phoenix, where they beat the New England Patriots 17-14.

“That Saturday practice before the Super Bowl, I told Corey he could have the ball back,” Gadson said in quotes provided by the Giants after Favre announced his retirement on Tuesday after 17 seasons.

“I said, ‘Just let me know and you can have it back,’ but he told me that he wanted me to keep it, and that really symbolized to me what this Giants team was about,” Gadson said. “That was such an unselfish act.”

As a fan, Gadson said he is going to miss watching Favre play.

“He should be proud of the run he had last season. Getting his team to the championship game just shows what type of competitor he is,” Gadson said.

A 1989 graduate of West Point, Gadson played football for the Cadets along with Mike Sullivan, the Giants’ receivers coach.

After Gadson was wounded in an attack on his convoy on May 7 and eventually lost both his legs, Sullivan told coach Tom Coughlin about his friend.

After losing their first two games of the season, Coughlin had Gadson address the team in Washington before a game with the Redskins. His message was to concentrate on the mission, never give up and believe in each other.

The Giants won the game and turned their season around. Gadson was on the sidelines for most of the playoffs and he addressed the team the night before the Super Bowl, speaking of “pride, poise, team and belief in each other,” according to Pat Hanlon, a team spokesman.