Teen Boy Shot And Killed On Jamaica Basketball Court

SOUTH JAMAICA, QUEENS — A 14-year-old boy who dreamed of playing for the NBA was shot and killed this weekend on a basketball court in South Jamaica's Baisley Park Houses, according to police and news reports.

Aamir Griffin was on the court practicing about 8 p.m. Saturday when a bullet pierced him in the neck from more than 100 yards away, according to the NYPD and a New York Post report.

EMS rushed him to Jamaica Hospital, where he died.

Griffin was a freshman at Benjamin N. Cardozo High School in Bayside, where he was recognized as a promising young athlete, the Post reported. He lived in the Baisley Houses complex, near the court where he was killed.

This is Amir. A child of our queens community who loved basketball so much he was on the court when he was fatally killed by a gunshot. My heart aches. My strength to write this is for Amir’s family. Pls keep them in ur prayers as a mom and dad bury their child to soon. pic.twitter.com/2NQyB3Xt5h
— Alicia Hyndman (@AliciaHyndman) October 28, 2019

"He loved basketball. He was already being recruited," the boy's aunt, Akiba Griffin, said during a Sunday vigil, according to the Post. "His mother raised him right: only school and basketball."

Griffin's high school basketball coach, Ron Naclerio, said the boy "had the same Magic Johnson smile as a 14-year-old that Magic Johnson had," according to PIX11 News.

Police on Sunday released surveillance video of two possible suspects in the shooting.

NYPD detectives told the Post they suspect the shooting was gang-related and that Griffin wasn't the shooter's intended target.

Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or on Twitter @NYPDTips. All calls are strictly confidential.