PEMBROKE PINES, FLA. (WSVN) - A coach is trying to console a soccer team on a unexpected team member’s death. Those boys are now leaning on each other and gathering to grieve a 15-year-old teen who was shot. Police said a member of the boy’s family accidentally pulled the trigger.
Carlos Santos was inside a Pembroke Pines home over the weekend when his best friend, Achilles Lopez, died from a single bullet.
“The last image I have of him is seeing him on the ground,” said Santos through a translator.
In Spanish, Santos described feeling scared that Saturday night.
“When we were about to leave, the relative kept playing with the gun, pointing it for example at me, the dogs, at Achilles,” said Santos.
He said that family member checked that the gun wasn’t loaded, but the entire situation made him uncomfortable, so he walked outside.
“Three seconds passed, then I heard a gunshot. I ran, and I saw Achilles on the floor. His chest was covered with blood,” said Santos.
Pembroke Pines detectives described the shooting as unintentional but negligent. They have not identified the person who was holding the gun.
Santos said Achilles was his best friend, more like a brother. The two played soccer for Miramar United Elite FC.
“It’s a tough loss, and we’ve seen him grow as a young man, and we had some big expectations for him,” said Coach Richard Jobson.
The team met Monday evening at the Sunset Lakes Community Center.
“He was a good player, but just his presence. He was funny, one of the nicest kids I knew,” said a teammate Giovanni Hazelton.
The club provided counselors to help his teammates and coaches grieve.
“It’s tough on us, and it’s tough on the boys, and we as a club, we are going to try and make sure to take care of our kids,” said Jobson.
A 15-year-old with aspirations to play professional soccer and whose friends say his heart was much bigger than his dreams.
“Not many people was born to be leaders, and I think this, he was born to be a leader,” said Jobson.
The State Attorney’s Office is reviewing the case and will decide whether or not criminal charges will be filed.
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