'I loved him so much': Family of second shooting victim at NCCU speak out exclusively to ABC11

DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) -- The family of Shamori Brown say they are devastated and heartbroken.

They are having a difficult time understanding why he and another young man were shot and killed during the weekend in a parking lot at North Carolina Central University.

"That was my brother. I loved him so much," said Briana, Brown's 13-year-old sister.

Briana and Jamear Reed, Brown's godbrother, say they grew up with him in New Jersey before Brown moved to Durham as an adolescent.

"I'm so numb right now I don't know how to feel," Reed said.

The two said Brown was goofy, intelligent, and loving.

Brown, 21, was preceded in death by his mother, who died in 2018. Brown also leaves behind a 6-year-old brother.

"How could you take somebody who meant the most to me? The person who pushed me to do better," said Briana. "I couldn't beat him in basketball for nothing. No matter how hard I tried. That's what pushed me to know that I want to be better than him someday."

Football was the common interest Brown shared with Reed.

At one point, Brown left North Carolina in his 8th grade year so they could be middle-school teammates in New Jersey.

"This is what we wanted to do. This is what we talked about all our life. We played football all our life, and we never really got a chance to play with each other because he was in North Carolina," Reed said.

It was at Hillside High School in Durham where Brown met Tavis Rhodes on the football field.

Both graduated from Hillside in 2019 and were remembered as likable, respectful students.

On Saturday, during NC Central's football game against Winston-Salem State, Durham Police said both men were found clinging to life, bleeding from gunshot wounds in a campus parking lot across from O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium.

"That's where he was supposed to be at. The football game," Reed said. "Other than that, we don't know what happened or why it happened. All we know is my brother was at the wrong place, at the wrong time.

"Tavis meant a lot to my brother," Reed added. "I'm sorry for Tavis' family. I'm sorry they have to go through this tragedy. I just hope they keep their heads up."

The shooting victims were not students at NCCU. Durham Police have not made an arrest in the case. They are looking for a black Nissan Altima in the case.

Brown will be laid to rest in New Jersey.

Anyone with information on this shooting is asked to call Investigator Mitchell at (919) 560-4440, ext. 29335 or CrimeStoppers at (919) 683-1200. CrimeStoppers pays cash rewards for information leading to arrests in felony cases and callers never have to identify themselves.