ORLANDO, Fla. — The teenager who was fatally shot over the weekend outside of a Wekiva High School and Jones High School football playoff game has been identified.
What You Need To Know
- Three people in total were shot, one of them killed, just as the football game was wrapping up
- Family members in attendance say chaos erupted as people tried to hide during the aftermath
- The deceased victim was identified as 19-year-old Gamaine Patrick Brown
The Orlando Police Department took four people under the age of 18 into custody, saying they believe they have the suspects involved in the shooting at Jones High School, located at 801 Rio Grande Ave., Orlando.
Police identified the deceased victim Sunday as 19-year-old Gamaine Patrick Brown, no other details were released.
The streets outside Jones High School were quiet Sunday morning, but the echoes of the night before rang out. It’s not the memory of a roaring crowd that replays in the attendees’ heads.
“The only thing I can think of in my mind is hearing those bullets that I heard. The shots that I heard last night,” said Phyllis Williams, an attendee of the playoff game.
Parents arrived outside the stadium Sunday morning hoping to retrieve their cars. They were abandoned on Saturday after a parking lot became a crime scene.
“We were just stuck out here waiting for the police to release us, to come over here and get our kids,” said Williams.
Williams said she waited almost two and a half hours to be reunited with her granddaughters, who play in the school band.
“This is going to be implemented in their minds forever because there were some kids saying they didn’t feel safe after the fact. They did not want to come out near the field, they didn’t want to sit on the bleachers,” said Terry Walker, who was also at the game.
Not until after he came by the morning after did Walker realize the shooting happened right by his car.
“To be that close — it’s a reality check,” he said. “Somebody’s child came to a football game just to enjoy entertainment and watch a good playoff game, (they) did not come home. It’s time for change.”
DaMarcus Womack says he’s been mentoring Gamaine Brown through My Brother’s Keeper and says they were leaving the game when Brown was hit by gunfire.
He said Brown was not involved in the fight that led to the shooting, and had been working hard at this job, exploring possible career paths and moving in a positive direction.
“I feel like Gamaine was headed in the right direction, the right path, I just feel like his path got cut short,” said Womack.
Womack said Gamaine connected with a lot of people because of his personality.
“Everywhere Gamaine went, everybody he touched, you were going to remember Gamaine’s presence,” said Womack. “He was real outgoing, had a heart of gold, full of energy — always the life of the party. He always brought sunshine to any crowded room.”
One of the two people injured in the shooting was the grandson of well-known Orlando Pastor Stovellio Stovall, who said his grandson, Deandre Stovellio Jackson, was shot in the hip as he was leaving the game.
“This is a tragedy, it really is," Stofall said. "And these young kids are acting out and they have no means in their hearts for life and what it stands for and they don’t understand what they’ve done until after they did it."
Since that Saturday football game, vigils have been held for Brown.
The 19-year-old was also mentored by Commissioner Mike Scott, who said on his Facebook page that Gamaine was "the most respectful, goofy, fun loving person you could ever meet."
The football coach said he and players got down on the ground, and hid when they heard the shots, which rang out with a minute left to go in the game.
Multiple commissioners said violence — especially when it involves young people — is a topic on their minds.
“I can’t promise we can do anything and make it not happen again," said District 5 Commissioner Regina Hill. "We must regulate these guns that’s on the streets and it’s really got to be a federal, state … you know these guns in our babies’ hands and how they’re getting the guns, we have to look at that also."
Police say the shooting stemmed likely from an argument between two groups.
Officials with Orange County Public Schools say there was extra security and counseling support at Jones High School as students returned to class on Monday.
