MIAMI – Family and friends are mourning the loss of 15-year-old Nolan King who died Sunday after being shot/hub/cmsframework/reroute/content_article/61954e17-08ca-4b79-8da6-0520883fe668#link={at a South Miami apartment complex.
Police say two young men, who knew King, are in custody in connection to the shooting.
A friend of King’s family, who described him as a “good kid,” said he had only lived in the complex for about four months and had attended a public school nearby. A police source said King lived in an apartment with his foster mother.
“It’s sad to hear that the 15-year-old was killed. For me it’s scary, I’m kind of worried that if could have been me, it could have been anybody. I don’t understand the circumstances leading to the killing,” said nieghbor Ephraim Ohazurike.
According to Miami-Dade Police investigators, South Miami Police received a call about a shooting shortly after 5:30 p.m. near 5944 SW 64 Street.
Arriving officers found King who had been shot. He was taken to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital where he died.
An alert was put on the police radio to “be on the lookout” for a white sedan that may have been connected to the shooting.
Once officers found the car, they tried to conduct a traffic stop but it immediately fled, and a chase ensued.
It ended at a Target off Dixie Highway and 10 Street, where the two men – ages 18 and 19 – got out of the car and ran away. Miami-Dade and South Miami police officers ran after them and took them into custody.
They were taken to the Miami-Dade Police Department for questioning. Their names have not been released and so far no charges have been filed.
The preliminary investigation revealed that King and the two young men knew each other, and they were together at the apartment complex before the shooting occurred. At some point, a dispute between the three led to one of them pulling out a gun and shots were fired. King was struck.
Police said the shooting seemed to have happened either outside the complex or in an outdoor corridor.
Miami-Dade Police Detective Andre Martin called the shooting “tragic,” especially with it happening so close to the holiday season.
“There’s no reason – no great reason – to take anyone’s life,” he said. “So, it’s extremely tragic.”
