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'Such a bright future': Bronx teen fatally shot was talented football player
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Published Feb 12, 2026
Modified Feb 12, 2026
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Obtained by Gothamist from a coach of Christopher Redding
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Published Feb 12, 2026
Modified Feb 12, 2026
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Christopher Redding was so skilled at football that his potential seemed endless to many who watched him play.
But the 16-year-old’s life was cut short on Wednesday afternoon, when he was shot and killed after a brawl in a busy area of the Bronx's Kingsbridge neighborhood, according to police.
Redding was gunned down near Broadway and West 238th Street, along with a 15-year-old boy and 13-year-old girl who were both injured and hospitalized in stable condition, the NYPD said.
Officials said Thursday they were looking for several suspects in connection with the shooting. They said they were investigating whether it was gang-related, but still examining whether Redding was targeted and what the fight was about.
Redding is the second teen to die from gun violence so far this year, according to NYPD data compiled by Gothamist. His death comes as city leaders say they are aiming to reduce youth violence, which has been increasing over the past several years, and gun violence in the Bronx, which accounted for more than a third of all shootings citywide last year.
People who knew Redding through football mourned his death. Robin Reiter, whose son played on the Fastbreak Flag Football team several years ago alongside “CJ,” as Redding was known, said he was a standout athlete who had "such a bright future ahead of him."
“He was part of like a triple threat of wide receivers where if you saw you were against them, you just knew you were never going to win that game,” Reiter said. “ I don't know that I've ever seen someone play like that at that age.”
She said the shooting was an especially “hard pill to swallow” for her 13-year-old son, who looked up to Redding for years.
Redding lived in Mount Eden, about 3 miles south of where he was killed, according to police.
Elected officials who represent the Bronx called out the problem of youth violence in the wake of the shooting, with Rep. Ritchie Torres saying he was “heartbroken.”
“The Bronx must be a place where kids feel safe walking home, not a place where violence cuts lives short. I urge anyone with information to come forward to law enforcement so there can be accountability and justice,” Torres posted on Facebook.
City Councilmember Eric Dinowitz said he was in contact with the NYPD, Redding’s school and the superintendent.
“Guns in the hands of high school students should never be the reality, and we must put an end to this senseless violence,” he wrote in a post on X.
Redding’s death comes after a man was fatally shot at a Bronx subway station on Tuesday afternoon. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch announced this week that she plans to deploy more resources to the borough, including nearly 200 additional officers, as part of an administrative change.
At a press conference on Thursday, Mayor Zohran Mamdani called both shootings in the Bronx this week “heartbreaking and horrific.”
Reiter said Redding’s killing would reverberate throughout the football community. She said she was planning to give her son more time to process the loss before having a deeper discussion about safety.
“ It's really scary,” she said. “When it's somebody you know and it's just like in one second, something [happens], a life that could have been so promising with such an incredible football career is extinguished by gun violence.”
Tagged
bronx
kingsbridge
new york city
public safety
Brittany Kriegstein
Brittany Kriegstein covers all breaking news around New York City, with a focus on crime and gun violence. Got a tip? Email Brittany at [email protected].
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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