Former football standout identified as teen shot dead at Bakersfield high school game as 15-year-old arrested

A promising former high school quarterback has been identified as the teenage victim fatally shot during a football game in Bakersfield Friday — as his alleged killer has been caught.

Levi Brown, 17, was gunned down in the stadium at Independence High School during the team’s season-opening game Centennial High School, according to friends and family.

An unidentified 15-year-old was later arrested on murder charges and gang activity, police said.

Brown’s former football coach, Vince Carter, described the teen as an “exceptional athlete” as a dual-threat passer who had “all the talent in the world.”

“There’s no doubt in my mind, he would have been a college football athlete,” Carter, who coached Brown at Garces Memorial High School in Bakersfield during his sophomore year, told The California Post

Carter said Brown later dropped out of school and got into trouble after giving up football.

“Levi had crazy potential and I always believed him,” the coach wrote in a widely seen social media post, “it just sucks this is how it ended for my guy.”

Brown was also the father of a one-year-old daughter, according to Carter.

Carter said Brown attended the game Friday with what he called “the wrong crowd” when the victim and his companions encountered the suspected shooter and got into a fight.

Police confirmed the Brown and the suspect knew each other and “this was not a random act of violence.”

The shooting happened just a few minutes into the game, with fans and players seen scrambling from the scene.

Bakersfield Police Sergeant Eric Celedon said the violence erupted just outside the inner chain-link fence where the game was being played. Police confirmed the shooting stemmed from a fight.

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“Based on our preliminary investigation, we believe this began as an isolated incident that began as an altercation between a group of individuals, which ultimately resulted in the shooting,” he said.

Police later said

Police responded just after 8 p.m. and found Brown suffering from gunshot wounds. He was rushed to Kern Medical Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

“It’s tragic, and one is too many, especially somewhere where we come to have a good time, to bring our families, and a place where we celebrate, so we understand why somebody would be fearful to come out,” Celedon added.

A prayer service was held at nearby Bakersfield Christian High School after the shooting.