Tag: Suhail Gillard

Twin brother charged in fatal shooting of Philadelphia HS football star

Fayaadh Gillard has been charged with fatally shooting his twin, Suhail. The brothers played HS football in Philadelphia.

A tragic story out of Philadelphia as a brother has been charged with fatally shooting his twin to death Sunday. The twins played for Mastery Charter School.

The shooting took place when the twins’ father was showing them how to use a gun, Philly.com reported.

High school students, some wearing blue and white football jerseys, gathered around Fayaadh Gillard at Penn’s Landing, literally holding him up so he did not collapse to the ground.

Before breaking into sobs, Fayaadh, 18, led the group of students and faculty from Mastery Charter School Lenfest Campus in chanting “Long live Su, long live Su, long live Su.” Then they released blue balloons into the cloudy sky above the bank of the Delaware River.

The vigil Wednesday afternoon, which drew close to 100 members of the senior class and their teachers, was for Suhail Gillard, Fayaadh’s twin brother, whom police say he shot to death Sunday in an Overbrook apartment.

Fayaadh was charged with murder, possession of an instrument of crime, unsworn falsification to authorities, and obstructing justice. He was granted bail of $125,000, and was released after paying 10% of that amount.

The Mastery football coach told Philly.com Suhail excelled as a running back. A three-time All-Public League running back for the Pumas, Suhail Gillard had committed to attend West Virginia State University in the fall fall.

“No one at the age of 18 should lose their life. That’s too young. There are things he had yet to experience the pleasure of — being a young man and college athlete. There’s really no words,” John Davidson said.

This is the second tragic around high school football in the Delaware Valley in recent months. A 10-year-old died after shooting broke out at a Camden-Pleasantville playoff game in November.

Philadelphia copes with tragic shooting death of high school football star by his twin brother

The tragic death of Suhail Gillard at the hand of his brother, Fayaadh Gillard, has rocked a Philadelphia community that is struggling to come to grips with the full scope of the tragic death.

An unspeakable tragedy unfolded in Philadelphia on Sunday when one Mastery Charter High School football star was shot dead by a teammate who also happened to be his brother.

As the Philadelphia Inquirer reported, Fayaadh Gillard has been charged with murder, possession of an instrument of crime, unsworn falsification to authorities, and obstructing justice in connection with the shooting death of his twin brother, Suhail Gillard, in an apartment. Police documents show that the Gillard brothers were together in the apartment with relatives when the shooting happened, with their father allegedly teaching them how to handle a gun.

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Indeed, fellow members of the Mastery Charter football team intimidated that the shooting had to have been an accident, with the team and broader school community rallying around Fayaadh Gillard in support of him as he grieves the death of his twin and his own role in it.

“I know Fayaadh didn’t do it on purpose,” Trenton Williams, a Mastery Charter football captain, told the Inquirer. “I know it was an accident. That’s his twin. His twin would never do that. They had much love for each other. I just cried my eyes out.”

Fayaadh Gillard is currently out on bail, with the Inquirer citing a court source claiming that the murder charge against Fayaadh Gillard will likely be downgraded to third degree murder or third degree manslaughter, both of which allow for those charged to post bail.

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