Nigel Brown Albany, Georgia 9 year old boy killed in drive by shooting while sleeping in bed: no arrests as authorities investigate weekend incident.
A 9-year-old Georgia boy has died in a fatal drive by shooting, after a bullet struck the child as he was sleeping in his bed, according to police.
Nigel Brown was discovered unresponsive by his mother Sunday after being shot in the head as he slept in the family’s home. He was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
Police were called to the family home in the 1500 block of West Gordon Avenue, just after 11pm, Sunday night.
The child was in bed sleeping when someone in a vehicle passing through the area opened fire, police said in a Facebook release.
Not immediately clear is who the shooter was aiming at when they fired off their gun and how the bullet came to enter the family home.
A community problem
‘Some coward on the streets of Albany, Georgia, took his life,’ Police Chief Michael Persely said Monday at a press conference. ‘And I say coward because the loss of one life is too many, but definitely in this case, this was a senseless killing.’
Persely apologized to the boy’s relatives for the ‘actions of those who did this’ and said he planned to meet with the victim’s mother.
‘But most of all, I just want to comfort her because she needs it,’ Persely said while calling on the public to come forth with tips to solve the boy’s slaying that occurred after someone in a car opened fire.
‘The police are part of the solution; we’re not the final solution,’ Persely said. ‘We’ve said time and time again, it’s not just us. We’re going to need everybody in this. This is a community problem … I need your help.’
A $5,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest in the case.
Nigel’s mother, two other children and their great-grandfather were also in the home at the time of the shooting, police said. The boy’s slaying prompted at least one local official to call for increased action against gun violence, WALB reported.
‘If we don’t take action and make real reforms to stabilize our neighborhoods and make our community safer for our children, our elders and everyone, things will not change,’ Ward 6 Albany City Commissioner Demetrius Young said in a statement. ‘I am calling for a renewed focus on the issues that contribute to gun violence and create an environment that leads to youth violence.’
During a Monday press conference, Dougherty County District Attorney Greg Edwards told reporters that a felony murder charge is likely to be filed in the case.
‘This is a tragedy,’ Edwards said. ‘This child was in his bed, thinking that he’s going to get up the next morning and play with his sister, as he was playing with his sister that night … We need in this community to do all that we can to bring this matter to justice.’
Police said anyone with information that can help locate the suspects is asked to call Crimestoppers at (229) 436-TIPS or the Albany Police Department at (229) 431-2100.
The weekend death is the latest in an ever rotating news cycle of unwitting victims killed in drive by shootings across the US, many of whom often happen to be children.
