Teen dies after being shot while playing basketball at Staten Island playground

The New York Police Department announced Tuesday that a "person of interest" had been apprehended in connection with the shooting, and was being questioned.

According to the New York Daily News, shots rang out at the playground on Tompkins Avenue around 4 pm on Friday. Harrell, who had been shooting hoops on the court, ran away but was struck in the head by one of the three bullets the alleged mask-wearing suspect fired from his gun.

"We were playing basketball and then one minute they started shooting, and we all ran," a 14-year-old witness stated, suggesting there was more than one suspect.

Harrell was taken to Richmond University Medical Center in critical condition, and despite doctors' best efforts, he was soon declared brain-dead. On Monday, he passed away.

Harrell was an eighth grader at the Eagle Academy, a middle school near the park. The playground and basketball court have long been popular gathering places for students. In the days since the shooting took place, investigators have determined that the attack was premeditated.

"It's just sad," one mother told CBS New York. "My son goes to school right here, too, my daughter goes to school here, and it's just sad. I don't even go out no more."

There were reports of parents swarming the scene of the crime in an effort to see whether their child had been shot.

As the Daily News reports, murders in the area have increased by 250 percent over last year, leaving many parents on edge. Earlier this month, a 14-year-old boy allegedly stabbed a 36-year-old man to death in what authorities labeled a gang-related killing.