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Arrest Made In Shooting Death Of 17-Year-Old Basketball Star Brandon Hendricks

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Police have arrested a suspect in the shooting death of 17-year-old who had just graduated high school.

Brandon Hendricks was shot in the neck on June 28 outside an apartment building on Davidson Avenue near 176th Street in Morris Heights after some sort of argument. He died at the hospital.

Police said they arrested Najhim Luke, 22, who they had been searching for.

Hendricks was a standout point guard at Monroe High School in the Bronx. He was planning to go to college, and had been weighing several scholarships from Division 1 colleges.

Nigel Thompson got the chance to coach Hendricks for three seasons, and taught him geometry.

"All his mom kept saying to me is, 'We need to get him out of this neighborhood, we need to get them off to college," said Thompson. "I never thought about the possibility of him losing his life.

"He really was a wonderful kid. Thoughtful kid. Intelligent," he added.

"This person who took his life obviously had nothing to really look forward to," Thompson added. "When you have nothing to look forward to in life, it's so easy to senseless take somebody else's life."

RELATEDTracking Recent Shooting In NYC

Hendricks was shot amid a massive uptick in shootings in New York City. Over the three-day July 4 weekend alone, there were 44 shootings and 63 victims.

 

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