It appears that the glorified and fantasized lure of gang life has claimed another promising young athlete.
As gang culture becomes a driving force in music, turning good kids into wanna be gangsters and entangling them in a lifestyle that totally contradicts anything positive they may have going on, Noah Scurry — a high school basketball star in Pennsylvania — tragically died in a hail of bullets this week after he reportedly was shot in the driveway of his home, in front of his mother.
According to the Philadelphia Police Department, the fatal shooting happened at around 7:15 a.m. on Tuesday as Scurry was on his way to Samuel Fels High School.
He was just 17 years old but apparently was caught in between two worlds.
Noah Scurry Was Also A Drill Rapper Known As Otvjoker Who Made Songs Provoking His Enemies
A motive for the shooting is not yet known yet, but the authorities say an investigation into the incident is under way and the streets have already been talking.
“No arrests have been made,” the PPD said, “and no weapon was recovered.”
On one hand, Scurry was a senior at Samuel Fels High and respected captain on the boys’ basketball team. And according to his cousin, Breanna McGlynn, he was being recruited by colleges. School administrators say he was in contention for both academic and athletic scholarships and had the highest SAT score in his graduating class.
On the other hand, in the streets Scurry was known as Otvjoker, and less than 24 hours after releasing a drill rap diss song to his OPPs (enemies) while wearing a joker mask, he was targeted and died in a hail of bullets.
Despite Curry being a jewel of the community, nobody is identifying any suspects to the police and as of now no arrests have been made in his murder.
Social Media Reacts To Murder Of HS Basketball Star Noah Scurry
The condolences and words of wisdom were plentiful on social media. As most fans used this tragedy as a way to warn youth to avoid gang life, especially when you have other options.
Said one X user, who knew Scurry personally: “He was a good kid, I worked with him when he was a little younger but was always super talented and well mannered I remember him always smiling his parents were good ppl. These young men out here getting caught in them streets thinking it won’t happen to them you can’t play both sides man smh”
Noah Scurry Had Highest SAT Score In Samuel Fels Graduating Class
The Panthers games for this week have been canceled in the wake of Scurry’s death, and Samuel Fels High Principal Melissa Rasper said in a statement Tuesday that Scurry was “more than just a talented basketball player,” as evinced by his outstanding academic achievements.
“Our deepest condolences and thoughts go out to the family and friends of this student,” she said.
A GoFundMe has been set up to assist Scurry’s family with funeral expenses.
This situation is deeper than just basketball, or even jealousy, as many have labeled it. Gang culture, which is magnified and culturally glorified by music and celebrities, has gone from an underground operation where business is conducted in certain hoods, to a commercialized form of genocide, where the lines between good and evil are not as apparent anymore.
As one X user put it: “The streets don’t show love, to anybody. Prayers to the family. Put the guns down. Your OPPs are not important. Your future is”
Another saddened netizen wrote, “Too many future leaders, particularly of the Black and underserved community, have their lives cut short because all of the superstars in their lives are either selling rock, cooking the glock or got a wicked jump shot. Eventually, everyone has to pick a side and regardless of how the investigation shakes out, Curry made his decision too late.”
“Honestly this is the bad part of the culture,” an X user named Bigsmoke said. “A kid with promising future. Yet he choose Drill culture. Sad man he would have made more money and had a better life had he stuck with Ball. RIP”
“tragic story, it is heartbreaking to see someone with so much potential lose his life so young. prayers for his family and friends,” said another X user from Scurry’s hometown
Many people online were wondering how such a positive young man with active parents and a bright future be allowed to fall into gang life without someone intervening before it reached this point
Said one Facebook user: “His talent was basketball not rapping already had away out I’m surprised they didn’t tell him to stick to basketball smh cold world.”
Prayers go up to his family and especially his mother who is wondering how it all went so bad, so fast.