A Queens teen who died of a gunshot wound was remembered yesterday as a good student and a football star with “a lot of potential.”
Thomas Johnson, 17, of Edgemere, was struck with a bullet to the head at 5 p.m. Wednesday, and taken to Peninsula General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead about 40 minutes later.
Johnson attended Christ the King HS in Queens, where he was an all-star football player.
“He loved sports very much and was interested in keeping his grades up,” said Celia Miller, a neighbor in the Beach 57th Street building and a family friend, who said several colleges were looking at Johnson for an athletic scholarship.
“He had a lot going for him,” said Miller, who was worried that Johnson’s mother, Anita, was having a difficult time dealing with the tragedy.
“Nobody can understand a mother’s loss,” Miller said.
Elliott Zimmerman, another neighbor, said he heard about the shooting from Johnson’s father, Thomas Sr.
“I saw him coming off the elevator and he said, ‘They just killed my son,’ and I hugged him. The family’s just devastated.”
Zimmerman, who described Johnson as “a very courteous young man,” said the father and son had a “special” relationship.
“They’re close, and the Johnson family is well-loved in the building,” he said.
Police said they have no motive for the shooting, and no arrests have been made.