Top student-athlete shot and killed on way to school in Democrat-run Philly

PHILADELPHIA, PA - A 17-year-old boy, who was a top student-athlete at Samuel Fels High School, was shot and killed on his way to school Tuesday morning, January 14th.

According to CBS News, Noah Scurry on the way to school with his mother when he was shot. He was found on the 5000 block of Rorer Street, near Tacony Creek Park and Roosevelt Boulevard, around 7:15 a.m. Officers arrived on scene and found Scurry had been shot multiple times throughout his body.

Medics with the Philadelphia Fire Department transported him to Jefferson Einstein Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7:37 a.m. Monique Braxton, a spokesperson for the School District of Philadelphia said in a statement, "The principal, coach, players, classmates, peers, are distraught." Scurry was a basketball player and top student in the classroom.

Braxton said, "This is unimaginable for them. The student was getting in the car with his mom this morning in the back of his home, and he was shot and killed. This student was about to graduate. He probably would've had offers to play basketball at colleges across the country. And you know, it's just a life senselessly cut short."

According to NBC10, Scurry just recently posted the top score among his class on the SATs. In a letter to the school community, Fels principal Melissa Rasper wrote, "The student recently scored the highest among the Fels community on the SAT college placement tests. He also played on the basketball team and for that reason, our boys basketball games will be cancelled for the remainder of the week."

The school is offering counseling and support for students grappling with their classmate's death. Rasper wrote, "Ours is a tight-knit community and I know that this is difficult news to receive even when it doesn't occur on school property. Death is rarely something that is easy to accept, especially when it involves a young person, a classmate and particularly during these times as our city grapples with heightened gun violence."

Police recovered a white Jeep Grand Cherokee matching the description of the vehicle seen in surveillance video leaving the murder scene. Police initially said a weapon was recovered, but later on Tuesday, police amended that statement saying that a weapon was not found at the scene.

Homicide detectives are actively investigating what led up to the shooting and the whereabouts of any suspect or suspects. Mohamed Elfaki, a 10th-grade student said, "The basketball boys weren't in the lunchroom. The whole school seemed upset. I saw people crying. It was just traumatic. He was really smart. Whenever he entered a room, the room always lit. There was always a smile on somebody's face when you were around him. Just so sad to think that he died."

Braxton said, "He was very helpful even when he wasn't called upon. If he saw someone walking down the hallway and they needed assistance carrying books to classes, he was the one who reached out to offer assistance. He didn't get in any trouble here at school. So, no one can really wrap their head around why this would happen to him."

A law enforcement source said that dozens of shots were fired. One neighbor said, "I heard gunshots, multiple and then just screaming from the mom. I can still hear the mom's mother cry, seeing her baby on that floor like that." A $20,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction in Scurry's shooting. Anyone with details is asked to call the Homicide Unit at 215-686-3334.