Police say the shooting happened around 3 p.m. on Lincoln Street just as kids were being dismissed for the day. Police say 16-year-old Letrell Duncan was shot four times by a suspect who took off. Duncan was rushed to the hospital but didn't survive.
Duncan was a standout basketball player who was described as the rock of the youth basketball program that he was a part of at Garden State Bounce.
"He was our little brother, a friend and we're going to miss him deeply," says Tunde Adedoyin, a coach at Garden State Bounce.
Naima Hall, of East Orange, says her daughter was a classmate and friend of Duncan. Hall says the incident has made her consider homeschooling her younger son who is in elementary school.
Adedoyin says the community will figure out a way to honor Duncan. There is a
GoFundMe page to help his family with funeral arrangements.
Essex County prosecutors are
leading the investigation and are still looking for the suspect.
No one else was injured.
Anyone
with information is asked to contact the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office tips
line at 1-877-TIPS-4EC or 1-877-847-7432.