FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Kristofer Hunter’s friends say he was a good kid and that Friday’s football game was a reunion for all their friends who hadn’t seen each other in a while.
Now, police are investigating the 17-year-old’s shooting death after someone gunned him down in the parking lot after the Langston Hughes High School homecoming game.
Teenagers coping with the death of their friend say it’s sad they don’t even feel safe at a high school homecoming football game anymore.
Hunter’s friends told Channel 2’s Liz Artz the teen, who attends an alternative school, wanted to see old friends and enjoy a homecoming game at Langston Hughes High School Friday night. Instead, that night that ended in gunfire.
“You can't even come to a football game and just watch it any more. You have to worry about somebody getting shot,” Khyra Perry said.
Fulton County school officials told Artz that after the game, around 10 p.m., police were called to a shooting in the school's parking lot. They said they found Hunter still alive, but barely holding on.
“I’ve been really lost for words trying to keep myself together all day,” Perry said.
The teen died a short time later at Grady Memorial Hospital. Three of Hunter's friends talked with Artz Saturday about the attention his death is getting on social media. They addressed rumors he was in a gang and this was some type of revenge killing.
Hunter’s friends denied that he was involved in any gang activity.
Others told Artz the killers were bragging about it on Twitter and Instagram. Police said they are following those leads and every lead they get. While detectives do their job, his friends want him remembered for who they say he was -- a good guy with a big heart and a smile to match.
“Kris was a great person, a loving person. He never hurt anybody,” Perry said. “Everybody is going to remember about him his smile. He had the perfect smile."
Police said Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents were at the crime scene, but school resource officers are working the homicide investigation. So far, they have not released a suspect or vehicle description.
WSBTV
