Stef’An Strawder, a senior basketball player at Lehigh Senior High School in Southwest Florida, was one of two people killed in a shooting at Club Blu in Fort Myers early Monday morning. Strawder was pronounced dead at Lee Memorial Hospital at 3:30 a.m., his mother, Stephanie White, told the News-Press in Fort Myers.
White was told that Strawder pushed his cousin out of the way right before being hit by a bullet in the right shoulder. His 19-year-old sister, Sharrelle, suffered a non-fatal gunshot wound to the leg.
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Strawder had aspirations to play Division I college basketball, according to the report. He averaged 15.6 points, 5.5 assists and 2.8 steals per game during Lehigh’s 19-8 season last year.
On Saturday, he returned from competing with the Florida Future Elite 17U team at the AAU National Championship Showcase Orlando. He took team pictures with his high school team later the same day.
"Why him? Why Stef?" White asked. "No matter where he went, everyone invited him into their home like he was their own. People loved him."
Added Jamie Outten, director of Florida Futures basketball in Lee County, “We’re just trying to keep these kids off the street. And we were getting ready for our next tournament. But to be honest with you, I don’t really know if we’re going to go now.
“He’s a great kid. All the young kids in the program look up to Stef'An. They aspired to be like him. Man, he would take the fundamentals of basketball, all the little tricks of the trade. He would coach these kids. He’d show them how to do a layup. He’d show them how to play defense."