{"id":442091,"date":"2026-08-24T16:26:29","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T16:26:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/442091\/"},"modified":"2026-08-24T16:26:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T16:26:29","slug":"who-was-levi-brown-teen-shot-dead-at-independence-high-school-in-bakersfield-idd-had-crazy-potential","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/442091\/","title":{"rendered":"Who was Levi Brown? Teen shot dead at Independence High School in Bakersfield ID’d: \u2018Had crazy potential\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

A high school quarterback has been identified as the person who was shot dead<\/a> during a football game in Bakersfield<\/a> Friday, August 21. The alleged shooter<\/a> has been caught.<\/p>\n

\"WhoWho was Levi Brown? Teen shot dead at Bakersfield high school game ID’d (Vince Carter\/Facebook)<\/p>\n

Levi Brown, 17, was shot dead in the stadium at Independence High School<\/a> during the team\u2019s season-opening game Centennial High School, according to friends and family, the New York Post reported.<\/p>\n

A 15-year-old suspect was later arrested on gang activity and murder charges<\/a>, according to police.<\/p>\n

\u201cA 15-year-old male has been arrested in connection with last night\u2019s shooting. Our hearts are with the family of the 17-year-old who lost his life, & all those impacted by this tragedy. We have a strong community. That strength will carry us forward,\u201d Bakersfield Police Department wrote on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Who was Levi Brown?<\/p>\n

Vince Carter, Brown\u2019s former football coach, described him as an \u201cexceptional athlete\u201d and dual-threat passer who had \u201call the talent in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no doubt in my mind, he would have been a college football athlete,\u201d Carter, who coached Brown at Garces Memorial High School in Bakersfield during his sophomore year, told The California Post.<\/p>\n

Carter said that Brown was the father of a one-year-old daughter.<\/p>\n

According to Carter, Brown attended the game on Friday with \u201cthe wrong crowd\u201d when they encountered the shooter and got involved in a fight. Police said that Brown and the suspect knew each other, adding that \u201cthis was not a random act of violence.\u201d<\/p>\n

The shooting took place just a few minutes into the game. Players and fans were seen scrambling from the scene.<\/p>\n

Also Read | Lexington KY mass shooting reports: What’s happening at Charles Young Park? Videos surface<\/a><\/p>\n

Carter wrote in a Facebook post<\/a>, \u201cIt\u2019s hard to put into words how I feel right now, yes he was from where he was from but Levi was a good kid I tried my hardest to help him in any way that I could. I knew football was his outlet and he was really good at it I did everything I could to get him into Garces and give him the opportunity I feel like he deserved. Unfortunately he was around the wrong crowd and was getting mislead and misguided and it hurts to see this is how it ended. Levi had crazy potential and I always believed him it just sucks this is how it ended for my guy. You know coach cj always had your back and I tried to do whatever I could for you. Get your rest kid, I\u2019ll always remember the last 7v7 you played and said \u201cCoach thank you for believing in me\u201d always did and always will. He wasn\u2019t \u201cBaby Kay\u201d to me he was Levi Brown. Get your rest, kid. You\u2019ll always be remembered for much more than how your story ended.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Bakersfield Police Sergeant Eric Celedon, the incident took place just outside the inner chain-link fence where the game was underway. Police said that a fight prompted the shooting.<\/p>\n

Also Read | Twin Falls, Idaho shooting death toll: Was Chad Williams among 3 killed? Police provide \u2018most accurate information\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Police responded just after 8 pm and found Brown suffering from gunshot wounds. He was taken to Kern Medical Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s tragic, and one is too many, especially somewhere where we come to have a good time, to bring our families, and a place where we celebrate, so we understand why somebody would be fearful to come out,\u201d Celedon said.<\/p>\n

Following the deadly shooting, a prayer service was held at nearby Bakersfield Christian High School.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A high school quarterback has been identified as the person who was shot dead during a football game…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":442092,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152,6596,2730,175166,175167,135],"class_list":["post-442091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news","tag-bakersfield-shooting","tag-football-game","tag-high-school-quarterback","tag-levi-brown","tag-shooting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=442091"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442091\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/442092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=442091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=442091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=442091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}