Man shot dead outside Brooklyn NYCHA complex was texting with young son

A devoted father who was shot and killed outside the Brooklyn NYCHA complex where he lived died in the middle of a text message exchange with his 8-year-old son.

Shaquille Davis was shot in the head at a playground outside the Lafayette Gardens Houses in Clinton Hill on Monday around 5:20 p.m. Two other men, one of them Shaquille’s best friend, were seriously injured in the shooting.

Davis, 32, lived with his mother, who ran to the playground near Dekalb and Kent Aves. after receiving a call from a neighbor who witnessed the shooting.

“I was running as fast as I could,” Denise Davis, 58, told the Daily News on Tuesday, breaking down in tears. “I saw my son lying there. Just to see him, I knew he was gone. He was already gone.”

“This has hurt my family a lot,” she added. “I can’t hold my head up. We pray for him”

Shaquille died at the scene. The other two victims, a 26-year-old man shot in the abdomen and shoulder and a 33-year-old man shot in the chest, were rushed to New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital where they remained in critical condition Tuesday. condition remained. No arrests have been made.

Shaquille was texting his son — shortly after picking him up from an after-school program and dropping him off at the boy’s grandmother’s house — when shots rang out.

The bloodied playground where a shooting victim collapsed Monday at NYCHA’s Lafayette Gardens Houses. (Sam Costanza for the New York Daily News)

“He just texted his son, his son texted him back. When (Jayce) didn’t get a response back…” Denise said, her voice trailing off as she burst into tears. “His son is currently distraught. They were just together.”

Shaquille was a construction worker nicknamed “Oody,” short for “Foody” because of his voracious appetite as a child. He helped coach Jayce’s youth soccer team, Brooklyn Legendz, family members said.

“They were tight from day one,” Denise said. “They did everything together. His son loves football, so (Shaquille) was there to coach the football team.

Police secure the scene of the shooting at NYCHA’s Lafayette Gardens Houses on Monday. (Sam Costanza for the New York Daily News)

Shaquille was hanging out with a childhood friend, known in the neighborhood by the nickname “Hood,” when they were both shot along with a third man. Five shell casings were recovered by police after the gunman and an accomplice fled.

Police have not determined who the killer was targeting when he opened fire, but Denise believes her son and his friend were unintended targets.

“He was just talking to his friend, the one who was shot with him,” Denise said. “That was his best friend.”

Police said Shaquille had been arrested six times for crimes including grand larceny and criminal possession of a forged instrument. He was charged once with resisting arrest.

“He was very loved,” Denise said. “Everyone knew him. He wasn’t a street kid who ran with gangs or anything like that. He was a good boy.”