Vigil held for man killed in Harlem basketball tournament shooting
A vigil was held Sunday in Brooklyn for Kinu Rochford, who was shot and killed during a basketball tournament in Harlem on Friday night.
The Kingdome tournament was taking place at a basketball court on Lenox Avenue between 112th and 115th streets when shots rang out.
Rochford, 35, was struck in the head and taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police say. Two others, a 28-year-old man and a 22-year-old woman, were also struck and injured. Both are expected to survive.
No arrests have been made.
Loved ones remember Kinu Rochford
Loved ones gathered Sunday at Wingate Park in Crown Heights, where they say Rochford loved to play basketball.
They planned to light candles and release balloons in his memory.
Kairo Rochford, Kinu Rochford's brother, said basketball was important to both of them.
"That's where we came from. That's how we learned our discipline, our motivation, sacrifice, hard work," he said. "One of us made the dream for both of us to stay alive, but now, ain't no dream no more 'cause my brother ain't alive."
Mother mourns son's death
Mother Eden Rochford spoke to CBS News New York on Saturday. She said Kinu Rochford was a triplet and was born in Brooklyn.
"He was a joy, and he'll always be a joy," she said.
Kinu Rochford played college basketball during his time at Fairleigh Dickinson University, and Eden Rochford said after college, he went overseas and played professionally.
She said he continued playing in local summer basketball tournaments when he returned home to New York, adding he was in the wrong place at the wrong time Friday night.
The city nonprofit Win said Kinu Rochford worked with them as an intake coordinator at a Brooklyn homeless shelter.
Anyone with any information on the deadly shooting is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit a tip via their website or via DM on Twitter, @NYPDTips. All calls are kept confidential.
