Teen critical after Fort Lauderdale shooting was bidding Army friend goodbye, mom says
A small gathering to say goodbye to a young woman in the Army who was about to be deployed ended in gunfire early Sunday morning in Fort Lauderdale.
Three people were shot after two masked robbers approached them, and one teen remains hospitalized, his mother told the Miami Herald Monday evening.
Richard Murray II, a 19-year-old business and finance student at Florida Atlantic University, was injured after three people were shot on the top floor of a parking garage on the 200 block of Las Olas Circle, his mother, Celeste Thompson, said. He remains in critical condition at Broward Health Medical Center.
Murray, who was shot twice, was struck by gunfire in the leg, but the bullet traveled upward and caused damage to his stomach, Thompson said. He is having his third surgery on Tuesday morning.
Thompson, who is a middle school teacher, said that her son is a student-athlete who racked up numerous academic accolades in high school. He played football, graduated with a 5.0 GPA and aspires to one day open a finance company that makes it on the Fortune 500 rankings.
“He was full of life,” she said. “I need him to come back.”
Murray and his friends were listening to music and looking over Las Olas from the parking garage, Thompson said, when multiple people approached them. Thompson said the assailants were masked and were attempting to rob the group.
Thompson also told the Herald that she was contacted by a police detective for the first time on Monday. The shooting occurred hours before the Florida Panthers’ Stanley Cup parade on the beach.
“It’s disheartening,” she said. “It felt like [it wasn’t] not important to anyone but me.... A parade shouldn’t supersede what’s happening in our backyard.”
Authorities haven’t released the identities or conditions of those injured. Thompson said the two other injured people were her son’s friends and have since been released from the hospital.
Investigators haven’t made any arrests, and the Fort Lauderdale Police Department told the Herald it didn’t have any new information about the shooting as of Monday evening. Thompson pleaded with anyone with information about the shooting to come forward.
“Someone had to see something,” Thompson said. “They have to find these people. We need to know why.”
Anyone with information about the shooting should contact Fort Lauderdale Police Department at 954-828-5700 or Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477.
This story was originally published June 24, 2025 at 5:30 AM.
