Who Killed a Cherished Ala. Student-Athlete as He Left a Basketball Game with a Friend?

Mar. 15, 2025

Gerald Andre Lomax, Jr.Photo:Woodlawn High School Facebook

Woodlawn High School Facebook

The 17-year-old was leaving a high school basketball game with a friend, Tuesday night, Nov. 12, when someone fired multiple shots into their vehicle, striking the student-athlete.

Gerald Andre Lomax Jr., 17, was pronounced dead at a Birmingham, Ala., hospital just before noon the following day, Chief Deputy Coroner Bill Yates confirmed in a press release to PEOPLE.

Gerald, a senior at P.D. Jackson-Olin High School, was a varsitybasketballandfootballplayer, who also held a job at Foot Locker, according to his social media.

After Gerald Andre Lomax, Jr. was shot, his friend drove him back to Woodlawn High School to seek help.Google Maps

Google Maps

His head football coach,Joe Webb III, a former NFL quarterback from Birmingham, mourned the death of his player – who closed out the season playing defensive end, offensive guard and tight end – on a series of Instagram Story posts.

“‘Preciate everything you done for the Mustang family!” Webb wrote over a photograph of Gerald running along the sideline, football crooked under his arm. In a second photograph of the 17-year-old standing on the field, hands on his hips, head turned, his coach lamented that his player’s dream of college had been cut short. “God was preparing you for His Kingdom," Webb wrote.

Police responded to a shooting near Woodlawn High School in Birmingham, Ala. Tuesday, Nov. 12.WVTM 13 News/Youtube

WVTM 13 News/Youtube

Birmingham police responded to a report of a person shot around 9:50 p.m. Tuesday.

Arriving officers found Gerald unresponsive but alive, suffering from a gunshot wound at Woodlawn High School.

NeitherJackson-OlinnorWoodlawnmen’s varsity basketball teams had a game scheduled Tuesday, nor were they slated to play each other this season. JV schedules for both teams had not been posted on the high school sports website MaxPreps.com.

On Oct. 10, the football teams played each other in Jackson-Olin’slone win of the season.

According to police’s preliminary investigation, Gerald was “involved in a verbal altercation” while leaving the basketball game, per aseries of press releasesconnected to the case. The friends “attempted to leave” but an “unknown suspect fired multiple shots into their vehicle,” striking Gerald in the passenger’s seat.

As of Friday morning Nov. 15, no one had been apprehended in connection to the shooting, Birmingham police confirm to PEOPLE.

Police have not identified a motive beyond the verbal altercation and it is unclear if Gerald knew the shooter, according to Wade.

His mother, Courtney Brown, stayed with her son at the hospital as he succumbed to his injuries.

In a video message, Mark Sullivan, the superintendent of Birmingham City Schools,appealedto students and families to end violent altercations.

“There are peaceful ways to resolve issues,” he added. “Once a life is taken, there is no replacement for a grieving family.”

Friends posted to Gerald’s Facebook wall, begging him to pull through in the hours after the shooting. “Bro, this wasn’t part of the plan,” one friend, Jaylen, wrote after his passing, punctuating the message with a broken heart emoji.

In the post, which included a picture of the two of them, the officer added: “You always, always kept me laughing, hugging me, told me you loved me and joking around…never a dull moment with you.” She signed off: “Forever my kid.”

If you have information connected to the shooting death of Gerald Andre Lomax, Jr., you may contact Birmingham Police Department’sHomicide Unit at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777. Tipsters to Crime Stoppers may receive a cash reward for as much as $5,000 for information pertaining to the case.

source: people.com