Boy, 13, gunned down on way home from Nets game was gang relation: NYPD

CROWN HEIGHTS, the Bronx (PIX11) --- The 13-year-old boy who was gunned down on his way home from a Nets game last month was targeted after a rival gang member was ambushed earlier in the night, authorities said Tuesday.

The teen, Troy Gill, was a member of the Drench Gang and was shot and killed in retaliation after a 20-year-old member of the Woo Gang was attacked hours before Gill attended the Nets game on Feb. 29, according to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny.

It was unclear if Gill, who had a Drench Gang tattoo, was involved in the 20-year-old man's attack. The assault victim was not badly beaten, police said.

"It was more like slapping him and disrespecting him," Kenny said. "He was grabbed up off the street."

Gill was shot four times near New York Avenue and Bergen Street outside Berger Park in Crown Heights at around 10:30 p.m., authorities said. The teen was struck in the chest, back, and twice in the arm before he FaceTimed his mom as he was running down the block, police said.

The boy, a former student at IS 390, was just a couple blocks from home and his family rushed out to search for him after the heartbreaking call, officials said. Gill was found on the sidewalk by a passerby walking his dog, police said.

Officers rendered aid before the teen was rushed to the hospital, where he died. The boy was unable to speak when he was found.

The teen also called his mom from the game and from an Uber, which his mom did not send him, police said. It was clear who ordered the rideshare.

There have been no arrests but investigators have identified a white jeep that two suspects rented in Philadelphia. The suspects fired eight shots at Gill.

“We’re not going to rest until this case is solved,” an NYPD official previously said.

Submit tips to police by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, downloading the NYPD Crime Stoppers mobile app, or texting 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. Spanish-speaking callers are asked to dial 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).

Mira Wassef is a digital reporter who has covered news and sports in the New York City area for more than a decade. She joined PIX11 News in 2022. See more of her work here.