On Thursday, Dec. 17, a 15-year-old football player, Zaevion Dobson, was gunned down in Knoxville, TN when he jumped on top of three girls, using his body as a human shield, during a string of gang related shooting.
According to authorities, Dobson was in a group of people fired on at about 10:15 p.m. local time. He “jumped on top of three girls to shield them from the shooters,” police said in a post via Facebook.
Dobson was the only one hit in the group, police said. During another incident, a second person was injured and one gunmen killed. “He’s a sophomore and already successful, already leading a life that’s contagious, that people follow,” Rob Black, Dobson’s Fulton County High School coach told WVLT. “[He was] so very liked by his peers and his teachers and his teammates. And that makes him successful.”
“Hearts are broken here at FHS,” a principal at Dobson’s school added via Twitter. “Please keep our athletes, students and faculty in your prayers. We lost a fine young man. Proud he was a Falcon.”
“We want you to know that Zaevion was an outstanding young man who will always be remembered as a hero,” his football team tweeted.
Per NBC News, Dobson’s tragic yet heroic death came as the second of three gang-related shootings which took place through Friday night. The violence began at about 7:20 p.m. on Thursday, when Lisa Perry, a 46-year-old woman’s home was fired upon. She was hit multiple times.
Perry was taken to a local hospital where she was treated for non-life threatening injuries. However, the 10-year-old in the home was not injured, said police. Hours later, Perry’s 23-year-old son, Brandon, is accused of joining multiple men as they “randomly” walked up and opened fire on Dobson and his friends.
“We were just sitting on the porch chillin’, and we see these random dudes walking up,” Dobson’s older brother, Zack, told WBIR. “I’m shocked. I’m really just shocked. I can’t believe it, can’t get it across my head.” he continued. “Zae, he was an awesome kid, awesome brother — Just know that I miss him. I miss my brother.”
Following the news of the young child’s loss, Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch made a plea to his community. “We really do plead with our community to step up and to stop these acts,” he said during a heartfelt press conference, reports NBC.
