On the night of February 7, 2011, Shawn Anderson could hear gunshots from inside his home. But it wasn’t until a neighbor came knocking on his door that he found out who had been hit.
Rashawn “Shawnee” Anderson, 18, was walking from the gas station at the bottom of the hill. He was headed back to his East Falls house in Abbotsford Homes, when a car approached and unloaded, striking Rashawn nine times in the head and chest.
“I ran up here, and when I got here it looked like he was asleep already,” said Anderson. “He was at the hospital for a little while. He was fighting. And not too long after that, they came out and said he didn’t make it.”
Rashawn’s killer has yet to be caught.
Standing on the spot where his son fell, Anderson is joined by Shawnee’s cousin and aunt, Janeka Peace and Tammy Jolie. They remember the pain of that day. And how far Shawnee had come, working towards his goals, excelling in basketball as a senior at Roxboro High School and working towards college.
“Kids have their trials and tribulations,” said Anderson. “But he still prevailed over all that. He was changing his life around, and basketball helped him do that.”
Over the past year, Anderson, Peace, and Jolie have been working along with Rashawn’s mother, Tyisha Mincey, to launch a non-profit in his honor: Shooting 4 Success.
“Were going to teach theses kids to shoot for something more,” said Peace.
What is Shooting 4?
The goal of Shooting 4 Success is to award a scholarship to a Roxborough student each year, help students with little things, like sneakers or backpacks, start a basketball league in the courts at the bottom of the hill at Abbotsford and even coordinate summer trips.
“Ultimately, its to help other kids,” said Jolie. “What’s most important is for these kids to get grown, be productive citizens, and come give the help back.”
