TOLEDO, Ohio — A teenager is dead after being shot in west Toledo late Sunday night.
This happened in the 1800 block of Brussels near Upton Avenue. Police tell us that the male teen was going into the back driveway of the home with a gunshot wound. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Lucas County Coroner's Office identified the teen as Royce Chatman.
A series of social media posts from family members remembered and mourned 14-year-old Royce Chatman, and a Toledo Public Schools spokesperson said Royce was a freshman at Start High School.
As word began to spread shortly after his death, friends and family began showing up hugging and crying. Family members said Royce was about to be 15 on April 5.
A neighbor tells us that he heard four gunshots on Sunday night around 11 p.m. Police say that another neighbor's house was also hit by gunfire.
No arrest has been made nor has a person of interest been specified in the case.
We spoke to several family members Monday morning who did not wish to go on camera. One woman who said she is Royce's stepmother told us that the teen lives at the home with her and the teen's father. She was crying and said she just got off work and arrived home to see this crime scene at her home.
The boy's basketball coach, Joy Harrison, recalled Royce as a boy with heart.
"He’s a very caring young gentleman - he’s a life of the room," she said. "I can just see his eyes. His eyes are like green and he’s very respectful. He’s always respectful towards me, but usually the kids around me they are respectful - that’s my standards - and he followed those standards. He was never the one that I had to talk to or any of that. He was a good kid.”
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 419-255-1111.
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The death of this teen is the fourth fatal shooting of a male under 20 years old this month alone.
David Misch, 19, was shot on March 1 and died days later from his wounds. Misch was a bystander in an east Toledo incident that also claimed the life of 44-year-old Brad Keel. Two people - Mathew Garcia, 23, and Brandon Lampros, 22 - are charged in the shooting deaths.
Tavion Brown, 15, was shot in the 300 block of East Central Avenue on March 10. He was taken to Mercy Health St. Vincent Medical Center by an "unrelated citizen" and officers were called out to the hospital around 2:40 p.m. Tavion had at least one gunshot wound, TPD said. He later died at the hospital.
Kyreese Hodges, 18, was shot on Saturday, March 20 around 6:45 p.m. Toledo Police say they found him on the corner of Easterly Court and Leach. Hodges’ aunt says he was on a dirt bike on his way to a convenience store near his home when he was shot in the back at least one time.
In 2020 there were 62 homicides. Twenty-five of those were victims 25 years old or younger. Fifteen victims were just teenagers.
Harrison, a basketball coach for the 14-year-old killed on Sunday, wants to see change and programs put in place to provide support and activity for teens.
“I feel like we need to open up something year-round for these kids to be involved and get them off the street have a safe place for them to go to," Harrison said. "I have some ideas in the back of my mind that I have a vision for the city of Toledo and to get these youths off the street. My main focus is basketball and financial literacy.”