Brooklyn Dad Killed For Standing Up To Teen Bullies Who Had Stolen His Son’s Baseball Cap
A Brooklyn dad lost his life for standing up to teen bullies who had stolen his son’s baseball cap, reports USA Today.
Gerald Cummings, 38, was shot twice in the head near a basketball court outside a Brooklyn elementary school Wednesday night when he attempted to take back the baseball cap that had been forcibly taken from his son a few days earlier by a group of teens at the same place, according to the New York Police Department.
Speaking to DNA Info, Eric Saunders, Cummings’ colleague at the medical lab where he worked, lamented the needless killing of his friend, saying that Gerald was killed simply for standing up for his son.
“His son got beat up from multiple guys out there. They took his son’s hat, they beat him up, they tried to take his iPhone.”
“A father’s going to stand up for his son. [He was] just trying to get his son’s stuff back.”
Brooklyn dad shot to death after taking back baseball cap bullies stole from his son https://t.co/a140Za0GqX pic.twitter.com/L2PhlyQfqo
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) August 5, 2016
This is the chain of events which led to the fatal shooting of the Brooklyn dad.
According to New York Daily News, Cummings’ 17-year-old son, Gerald Sealey, was playing basketball outside Public School 6 in Flatbush last Saturday when three teens approached him and attempted to forcibly remove the Oakland Raiders cap he was wearing on his head. When Sealey protested, the teens roughed him up, tried to steal his iPhone, and finally took his baseball cap with them.
A preliminary search suggested that the Don C lambskin cap that was robbed off of Sealey sells for up to $400 online. It is no wonder, then, that when Sealey spotted the three teens at the same place last Wednesday, he informed his dad so that he could retrieve the cap that was stolen from his son.
But little did Gerald Cummings know that the group of teens were not only violent but that one of them even had a gun.
According to reports, Cummings went to one of the teens, who is reportedly 16-years-old and snatched his son’s baseball cap that he was wearing on his head. The teen bully followed Cummings and his son back to the basketball court at which point one of his friends — also a teen — pulled out a gun from his backpack and started blasting.
Two shots hit the Brooklyn dad, one striking him in the temple, injuring him seriously. He was soon pronounced dead at the nearby Kings County Hospital.
“He never carried no malice in his heart. He encouraged me to follow my dreams.”
“He was a loving father and devoted friend. He was a good friend. He gave his all to anybody.”
Cummings’ nephew, Jahquel Davis, echoed Migdalia’s memories of her husband, saying that the 38-year-old dad was always there for everyone in the family.
“He was a caring, hardworking man. I don’t know what to say.”
While the Brooklyn dad’s death has sent shockwaves throughout the neighborhood, the fact that such unnecessary and deadly violence erupted so close to the elementary school that serves about 678 students from kindergarten through fifth grade is also a cause of concern for many families.
“It’s very bad — lots of kids over there,” said Samaq Moseb, a resident of the area for many years.
A spokesman for the New York Police Department said that investigators had identified at least one of the suspects responsible for killing Cummings, but confirmed that no arrests had been made so far.
[Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images]
