CBC hockey player Colin Brown dies after being hit by a stray bullet

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A 16-year-old high school hockey player died in the hospital Wednesday after being hit by a stray bullet in his father’s car on Interstate 55 in south St. Louis, police said.

Colin Brown, a student at Christian Brothers College High School, was struck Saturday night near the intersection of I-55 and Loughborough Avenue as he walked home from a hockey game in Affton.

Police announced his death at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.

In a subsequent statement, police spokesman Mitch McCoy said Colin’s family expressed their appreciation for law enforcement and the hockey community but asked for privacy following his death.

Colin donated his organs to other needy patients, showing “what kind of young man Colin was and what kind of family he grew up in.”

“Her unwavering commitment to those around her should inspire us all,” he said.

Mayor Tishaura O. Jones also issued a statement saying she was praying for a miracle and was now overwhelmed with grief, sadness and anger that this innocent teenager’s life was taken.

“We will never get true justice for the loss of Colin’s life,” Jones said in the statement. “But I know that the great officers of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department will continue to do everything we can to find out who is responsible for this senseless and reckless act of violence and hold them accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

Police said the shooting occurred in the southbound lanes, but Colin and his father were driving north. It is a “rare” situation for someone in the city to be hit by a stray bullet, said police spokesman Mitch McCoy.

Police would not say where Colin was hit.

They said Wednesday they had received “numerous” tips related to the shooting and recently obtained new video evidence.

“We cannot emphasize enough how important it is for residents in the I-55 and Loughborough area to check the surveillance cameras on their homes – which may have captured the shooting,” McCoy said.