Funeral services held for 15-year-old Foridun Mavlonov, shot after summer school in Brooklyn
NEW YORK - Funeral services were held in Brooklyn on Thursday for a teenager who was fatally shot after leaving a summer school program on Monday.
The grief was almost unbearable as 15-year-old Foridun Mavlonov's loved ones walk behind his casket. His grandmother and great aunts say he was the pride of his family.
"He was a good boy! Whoever shot him deserves no freedom," said his grandma, Umaro Kamalova, to CBS New York's Hannah Kliger in Russian.
The grief overcomes her right after the interview, as others rush forward to stop her from falling.
Mayor Eric Adams and newly appointed NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban embraced his distraught father, Firdaus Mavlonov.
In an interview translated from Russian, Mavlonov asked for prayers for his son to get to heaven.
"My golden boy. Where will I get another like him? He helped his sisters, brothers. He helped me, when I was working, he helped me with everything... Remember him, punish his killer," he said.
- Read more: Police: 15-year-old Foridun Maulonou dies of injuries after being shot in broad daylight in Brooklyn
Inside a mosque on Third Avenue, a sea of mourners prayed for the young man and for justice. Investigators say they have identified the suspect who fired the gun but are still looking for him. The mayor spoke of the urgent need to stop gun violence, a plague he says is killing our youth.
"It's my responsibility to ensure fathers are not burying their children. My heart goes out to you, I am so sorry. And as I pull the casket along the street, I must lead from the front," Adams says.
Mavlonov was born in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The family came here more than a decade ago. He was one of six kids and a local martial arts champion who hoped to one day become one of the the best fighters in America.
"He was very proud of his heritage, but he also loved America so much. So it's an immigrant community, everybody is supporting each other," says Brooklyn Councilmember Ari Kagan.
"My grandson should be the last child to die of a bullet. So no other kid dies like this," says Kamalova.
Supporters carried his casket out of the mosque to bring to the cemetery where a broken family laid him to rest.
Police say the shots were fired after an argument between two groups of students which did not involve Mavlonov. NYPD is asking for anyone who has more information to give them a call.
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