Oct. 6, 2007: Drive-by shooting kills 16-year-old boy

Gennaro Knox was tying his do-rag outdoors at 10:30 p.m. Thursday when about six gunshots cracked the air - some striking him in the face, said the woman who found him lying in her front yard.

Knox, 16, ran up some stairs to a sidewalk that led to a house, went through the gates of a chain-link fence and collapsed, said Carol Henson, who lives in the house in the 2300 block of Elliot Avenue S.

"He was just lying on the ground crying," Henson said. "He was a good kid."

Henson, whose son is Knox's best friend, said she saw the South High School student take one breath before he died. He lived a block away.

Police called it a drive-by shooting but could reveal little else Friday. Authorities said they don't know if Knox was the intended target, if he knew the suspect or suspects or why he was shot.

No arrests have been made, and police spokesman Lt. Greg Reinhardt said they have no suspect or suspects. No one else was injured.

Henson said her son was also outside at the time and ran through a neighbor's yard when the shots were fired.

She said her son and Knox were at her house Thursday night getting ready to attend a party. School was out Friday, she added.

Art shows and basketball

Friends and neighbors said Knox was a quiet kid who stayed out of trouble and enjoyed everything from attending art shows to playing basketball.

Lucy Lamp bought a house that Knox's family formerly rented near the shooting scene. She said he quickly became a member of her family, visiting nearly every day from his new place across the street and greeting everyone with, "What up, famo?"

"He was really good-natured, always brightened up any kind of day I was having," she said. "I was excited about his future. It was just cut short."

Knox, his siblings and his friend often accompanied Lamp to art openings and on bike rides in the city and car rides through the country, she said. He helped paint her house and was a jokester, speaking in an English accent every time they had tea, Lamp said.

Friends said nothing seemed out of the ordinary with Knox. He worked at a parking ramp in Uptown a few nights a week, planned to celebrate his friend's birthday on Friday and was going to take his little sister to get her ears pierced, friends said. He was the oldest of three children.

"It's really sad that he went through the trouble of not doing anything wrong and it didn't matter," said Lamp's daughter, Johanna Shreve.

Some residents of the block, in the Phillips neighborhood, said it isn't unusual to hear gunshots night or day. Some said they fear that no one is safe, regardless of their personal conduct.
Accidentally wearing the wrong colors could get you in trouble, Henson said.

"It's not a surprise anymore," Joann Eggelston said of shootings.

Eggleston, whose son was also friends with Knox, called on the governor and mayor to show their support for the area by making appearances when shootings happen and also by funding programs for idle youth.

"We can't afford to lose another kid," she said.

Knox's death was Minneapolis' 50th homicide this year. Last year,
40 people had been killed as of Oct. 3.

Anyone with information about the shooting can call Minneapolis police at 612-692-8477.