DENVER — Flowers sit at the doors of the Montbello Recreation Center, which is now closed until further notice.
The Denver Police Department said a teenage boy was shot and killed inside the recreation center Thursday night. Family identified him as 14-year-old Mikail Nasir Khalid Payne.
Police say another juvenile was arrested in connection to the shooting and is being held for investigation of first-degree murder.
Watch Denver7's Adria Iraheta's report in the video below:
A verified GoFundMe from his uncle shows Payne was "standing up for his brother during an altercation and did not initiate violence" when the other teen shot him point-blank. Denver7 reached out to DPD to verify these details but has yet to hear back.
The tragedy left neighbors stunned and the community shaken.
"We've had a safe haven be violated," Dr. Joel Hodge said.
Hodge is the co-founder of the Struggle of Love Foundation, an organization on a mission to empower youth and prevent violence.
"We're supposed to be able to go in the rec center, swim and play basketball," Hodge said. "And we're in there dealing with a shooting, a homicide of a kid."
The shooting comes days before the launch of the foundation's "Let's Make It Home Safe" campaign, aimed at preventing youth violence.
"We're going to try to give out some bracelets, there's stuff that you can keep on yourself to remind yourself to say 'no, let me calm down, let me just walk this off,'" Hodge said.
The reality hits close to home for many in the neighborhood.
Daniel Galicia, who lives in the area, said he regularly brings his nephew to the rec center to work on his basketball skills.
"It's kind of discouraging to hear," Galicia said. "It's something that you don't want to see, like your nephew has to deal with this kind of, you know, worry.”
DPD told Denver7 they will have extra patrols in the area following the shooting.
Community organizations say they are working alongside law enforcement on next steps.
"We're working hand in hand with [Denver] District Five and DPD to find out the future of how we will respond to the rec center reopening," Hodge said.
The Struggle of Love Foundation remains committed to its calling in the wake of the tragedy.
"Until the higher powers call me home, I'll be doing this for the rest of my life, because this is my mission," Hodge said. "Let's just all please make it home safe.”
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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