Harlem mass shooting: $10K reward offered for info on Darius Lee's killers

Harlem mass shooting investigation

NYPD sources say that a shootout between two groups resulted in the killing of college basketball player Darius Lee.

NEW YORK - The NYPD has announced that it is offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of any suspects connected to the fatal shooting of college basketball player Darius Lee last month.

According to authorities, the 21-year-old Lee, who was named the Houston Baptist University Robbie Robertson Male Student-Athlete of the Year, was attending a family gathering in East Harlem on June 20 when a wild gun battle broke out between two heavily armed groups of suspects.

As many as 150 bullets were fired during the shootout, striking seven men and two women along a footpath off of the FDR Drive near 139th Street and Fifth Avenue.

Lee was struck by one of the bullets and rushed to Lincoln Hospital where was pronounced dead.

"We are devastated. Darius was a remarkable young man who loved the Lord, his mom, his family, his teammates, his friends and his entire HBU family," said basketball coach Ron Cottrell via the Houston Baptist University website.

Anyone with information on the shooting is being asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or on Twitter @NYPDTips.

Police say all calls are strictly confidential.

The shooting that claimed Lee's life came nearly 24 hours after another shooting in Ozone Park, Queens involving a semi-automatic rifle where one man was killed, and two others were injured.

Shootings are down 11% this year in New York City, compared to last year. Murders are down 12% but are still at their second-highest level since 2012.