16-year-old New Jersey high school football star shot dead

A star football player in Camden, New Jersey, died from a gun-related accident last week, his family said while mourning the loss on Monday night at a vigil. Xyere Brooks, a 16-year-old standout on the football field, was shot around 12:30 p.m.Friday inside an apartment in Camden before being taken to Cooper University Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries two hours later, 6ABC reported. Police believed there were several youths in the home when the gun went off.Family members called it a tragic accident, with Brooks’ brother alleging that a woman had put the firearm to his head, and the gun went off. Authorities are investigating who owned the gun and the circumstances around the tragic death. “She put the gun to his head, and I guess she didn’t expect it to go off.

To make a long story short, the gun went off on my brother, and he’s no longer here with us,” Manazh Tompkins, the victim’s brother, told 6ABC. Antoinette Brooks, the victim’s mother, said during the Monday vigil that several universities had already spoken to Xyere about playing for them, including Syracuse and Rutgers. Brooks, who was a sophomore, helped lead the KIPP Cooper Norcross Academy football team to its first playoff game in program history. Head football coach James Tompkins said that “there’s no way [Brooks] can be replaced.” “We are going to take it one day at a time and do the best we can to honor him, support his family, support the rest of the team and honor his name the best we can,” Tompkins said. “Xyere was a supportive teammate and friend, a dedicated student, and a standout on the football field whose talent and determination left a strong impression on all who knew him,” the school said in a statement....