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A Cinncinati youth football team is mourning the loss of their coach who was shot dead after practice, KALB reports.
On Tuesday (October 18) night, Jermaine Knox, 37, died in front of his players outside the College Hill Recreation Facility, where team practices and games are held.
Knox and another man were standing in the street after practice when a third individual approached the pair and opened fire.
The second man was shot in the leg and is expected to recover from the hit.
Community activist Mitchell Morris said he was at the scene of the shooting Tuesday night and doesn't understand how anyone can kill a man in front of children.
“That made it double bad,” Morris said. “No one should have to live like that. Nobody should have to live life around this type of gun violence.”
Morris believes the park should be a safe space for children and adults and not the scene of a crime.
“We got babies that are being victims now, just the mental part of it,” he said. “When things like that happen, you think about the kids, so we just got to wrap our arms around them and the parents and people in the neighborhood and let them know this gone be all right.”
During a memorial service on Wednesday (October 19), Knox was remembered as a mentor to many in the community.
“He was out here because he knew these kids needed him,” Pastor Peterson Mingo said.
No suspect information or motive has been released as the shooting remains under investigation.
Anyone with information in connection to the shooting is asked to contact CPD’s Homicide Unit at 513-352-3542.
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