A California father of two was tragically shot and killed in the parking lot before his 7-year-old son’s youth football game.
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Terrance Patrick was shot three times while sitting in a car outside St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower, California, on October 5, where he had gone to watch his son’s football game.
Deputies responding to the Saturday morning shooting at 8:20 a.m. discovered that Patrick’s car windshield was punctured by multiple bullets.
Lieutenant Hugo Reynaga from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s homicide bureau informed People that the shooter discharged three rounds, all striking Patrick. He was swiftly transported to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Meanwhile, a woman in the car with him was unharmed.
The suspect is still at large.
Patrick’s Son Finished His Football Game Following His Father’s Shooting
In an interview with Fox 11 in Los Angeles, Mike Brown, the coach of the North Long Beach Panthers 8-U team, which consists of children aged 8 and under, recounted hearing several gunshots while his players were warming up that morning.
“Pop, pop, pop,” Brown told the outlet. “At first we thought it was the balloons in the stands.”
Brown noted that Patrick’s son appeared oblivious to the events that had unfolded and remained in the game.
“The kid did finish the football game and all that,” Brown recalled. “I guess the mother didn’t want to give him all that information.”
In a GoFundMe campaign created by the family to assist with funeral and burial expenses, relative Brian Patrick fondly remembered their “beloved” Teddy, as the late Patrick was affectionately known among his family.
“[He] loved his children and the joys of fatherhood more than anything. He was a man with a fun-loving and kind spirit that will be missed deeply.”
“This has rocked our family, leaving us with so much pain, grief, confusion, and so many unanswered questions,” he added. “We have no idea what could have motivated anyone to kill in such cold blood.”
“His death has left a mother and father without their son, siblings without their brother, and most tragic of all, two young children without a loving dad to raise them,” Brian Patrick concluded.
Meanwhile, investigators have yet to disclose a motive for the incident. However, Lieutenant Reynaga told People that the car Patrick was in during the shooting had been reported stolen. The lieutenant also told the outlet they were pursuing “at least” two suspects.