A 15-year-old high school football player in Tennessee died Thursday night after throwing his body on top of three girls to shield them from a drive-by shooting.
Zaevion Dobson, a sophomore at Fulton High School in Knoxville, was the only person injured in a shooting police believe was gang-related.
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The incident occurred at 10:12 p.m. Thursday and was the second of three related shootings in the area in a seven-hour span. Police said about a dozen people were present where the shots that killed Dobson were fired.
"That speaks to his character," Fulton principal Rob Speas said of Dobson, via the Knoxville News Sentinel. "As a sophomore, he was a leader. He was a kid that other kids wanted to be around."
One of the men police believe was involved in the shooting died Friday morning after crashing his BMW into the brick wall of an apartment building. The man, 23-year-old Brandon Perry, had been shot before the crash, police said.
We want you to know that Zaevion was an outstanding young man who will always be remembered as a hero. pic.twitter.com/h7qlV1D9zO
— Fulton Football (@FultonFootball) December 18, 2015
