Tyrone Gibson, 14, told his mom he was going to the store around the corner with some friends Tuesday afternoon.
He left his house wearing his favorite orange Pumas, his jean jacket that he never washed and his favorite black jeans. When he wasn’t back in 20 minutes, his mom, Chiquita Reeves started to worry.
Then she saw a police car drive past her house. And then another. Her heart sank.
She knew something was wrong.
Gibson was the oldest boy of 10 children — six boys and 4 girls, Reeves said. She sent her next oldest boy, an 11-year-old, out to see what was going on.
He came back saying something bad had happened. Reeves walked to the intersection of 24th and Kensington streets, to be met by Harrisburg Police Commissioner Thomas Carter and another officer.
“They didn’t have to say nothing, their eyes told me all,” Reeves recalled. “Their eyes told me it was my son. They couldn’t get it out. I was already on the floor.”
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Police have not publicly identified the teen who was killed, saying only that a 14-year-old boy was shot to death in an alley, the 2300 block of Center Street, just before 4 p.m. Tuesday.
Reeves said she never imagined losing a child.
“Not at this age anyway,” Reeves said. “Maybe if they got a little older, enjoyed their life. It’d still hurt but I’d know he did something with his life. Accomplish something. But they just took him too short. Over what?"
Those answers aren’t clear, and police have not said publicly whether the friends who were with Gibson were involved in the shooting.
The family plans to hold a vigil for Gibson at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the alley behind Kensington Street where he died.
Gibson’s aunt, Almeda Evans, has put together a GoFundMe page to help raise money for funeral costs. She said that no other GoFundMe page is sanctioned by the family.
Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to contact Harrisburg Police at 717-558-6900, or submit a tip through their Crimewatch website.
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