Teen Killed in Hayward Shooting Was High School Football Player

HAYWARD, CA - A Hayward High School football player was identified as the teen shot and killed just north of Hayward on Monday evening.

Friends and family identified the victim as 16-year-old Lamar Murphy, a junior at Hayward High School.

Alameda County sheriff's deputies found Murphy after responding to reports of gunshots in the area of Princeton Street and Smalley Avenue at about 6:45 p.m. Murphy was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators have said it may have been a drive-by shooting but have released no information about
possible suspects or a motive in the crime.

In 2014, Murphy participated in the Bay Valley Gridiron youth football league as a defensive end on the Hayward Earthquakes team, according to the league's founder, Chirika Gates. Since then, the Earthquakes have become a part of the Snoop Youth Football League started by rapper Snoop Dogg as it expanded to Northern
California.

The program is for children between 6 and 14 years old and participants frequently go on to play in local high schools, Gates said.

Gates described Murphy as a good and respectful player In the league and called the killing a senseless crime.
"This killing must stop," Gates said. "One of the reasons we started Hayward Earthquakes is to ensure that the youth in our community will have an outlet to learn discipline, camaraderie and sportsmanship."

Murphy's family has set up a GoFundMe account to raise funeral costs.

Anyone with information about the shooting has been asked to call sheriff's investigators at (510) 667-3636.

— Bay City News; Image via Alameda County Sheriff's Office