Advocates against gun violence are pushing for change after a triple shooting claimed the life of a former college basketball player. They gathered at a vigil in Harlem Sunday afternoon that happened on the very basketball court that was lit up with gunfire Friday night.
This particular shooting has impacted loved ones across the country because the person who lost his life was a former college basketball star. Kinu Rochford, 35, was participating in a street basketball tournament that night. He was on the sidelines in between games when a dispute escalated and Rochford was shot in the head and killed.
Two other people were also hit — a 28-year-old man wounded in the leg and a 22-year-old woman shot in the arm.
Rochford was a star player at Fairleigh Dickinson university and played professionally internationally. Community leaders on Sunday called for an end to the violence.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg appealed for information in the search for Kinu Rochford’s killer at a Sunday vigil in Harlem. (Image: NBC New York)
“To witness what I witnessed, to see the atrocity that the young brother Kinu was taken from us due to senseless violence, you have the capacity to interrupt the transmission of violence,” Dorin Hammond of Living Redemption told the crowd.
“It is sad, tragic. My heart goes out to the families,” added Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. “We now, obviously, have an investigation. I want to encourage anyone with information to please come forward,” he said.
Kinu Rochford (left) playing for Fairleigh Dickinson University in Dec. 2011 (Photo: Timothy D. Easley/Associated Press)
After attending FDU, Rochford played professionally in Europe for several years. He also worked for “Win,” the largest provider of housing and supportive services for homeless families with children in New York City and the nation.
No arrests had been made as of early Sunday evening.