Teenager Fatally Shot In The Head While Rapping On Facebook Live, Neighbors ‘Shocked’ To Hear It Was Him

A neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York mourns after a teenager was shot and killed near his home while broadcasting on Facebook Live.

The victim, 19-year-old Jeremiah Dickey, was outside a nearby bodega which CBS New York reports is only “steps from his home.” Police responded to a call around 6:45 p.m. on Tuesday evening in the East New York neighborhood.

They were told that a male had been shot, and when police arrived they found Dickey lying on the ground unresponsive with a gunshot wound to his head. Paramedics arrived and took him to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.

According to CBS New York the suspect is in his 20s, and ran off after the shooting wearing light blue jeans and a blue coat. While the motive is unclear, police believe this to be a targeted attack.

The teenager’s mother, Debra Dickey, was despondent when speaking to CNN.

“I just miss my son,” Dickey told the network, “I shouldn’t have to be sitting here sobbing while they’re still out there running free.”

She said she was blindsided by her son’s shooting and would never expect this to happen especially while he was livestreaming just outside a bodega down the block.

During the harrowing Facebook Live video, Dickey is seen inside a car rapping along to a favorite song of his for 35 seconds. He then stops and begins rapidly looking around when five gun shots can be heard.

Facebook released a statement to CNN confirming that the video has been removed from the social media platform.

“This is a terrible incident and our thoughts are with the victim and his loved ones,”the statement read.

Dickey’s mother described him as a “loving kid with a good heart” and she was not the only one who had kind words to say. A 45-year-old neighbor, Maria Monello spoke to The New York Post about the teenager and said how surprised everyone was to find out he was the one who was shot.

“There’s a lot of kids around here where you wouldn’t be shocked. But everyone was shocked when they found out it was Jeremiah,” Monello adds, “Even the guy in the bodega was crying.”

The neighbor said his mother recently suffered a stroke but Dickey told her she “was doing better,” and the deceased teen had “lots of siblings.”

An employee of the bodega, Amer Shammakah, spoke to CBS about the 19-year-old.

“He’s a nice boy, he’s good. I came before a lot of times. I know him and he knows me,” Shammakah said, “I never see him [have a] problem with nobody.”