Kinu Rochford dies in Harlem Shooting: Former European professional basketball player was murdered in a targeted shooting Friday night at a lively Harlem basketball tournament. Kinu Rochford, an MVP at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey, was the victim of a single shot to the head at about 10:30 p.m., which ended his life, police said. He had been attending one of the events during the Kingdome Basketball Tournament held in Martin Luther King Jr. Towers on Lenox Avenue. Apart from him, two other men were injured when the gunshots went off, cops said.
Kinu Rochford killed in shooting in Harlem
FDU is devastated to hear of the tragic passing of former men’s basketball player Kinu Rochford (‘13). A standout Knight and leader, Rochford built a legacy in Hackensack. He was 35 years old. #uKNIGHTED pic.twitter.com/lY9W72fhCF
— FDU Knights (@FDUKnights) July 11, 2026
Former professional basketball player Kinu Rochford was shot dead in Harlem on the night of Friday, after the shooting happened during the basketball tournament, said the New York. Police say that 35-year-old Rochford sustained a head injury after the shooting, which occurred near King Towers in Upper Manhattan. Besides him, two other people were injured and are now in stable condition.
After being taken to the hospital, Rochford was declared dead in the hospital by the doctors at the hospital where he remained. The police department’s statement said that the basketball tournament was in progress at the moment Rochford was shot. Rochford, who lives in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights, was murdered about 15 miles away from his home.
Who was Kinu Rochford?
After being a standout player at his college in New Jersey, Rochford went on to construct quite a basketball career in foreign leagues over the span of nearly a decade after that. Rochford is a resident of Brooklyn who first took up college basketball at Globe Institute of Technology, and there, he was honored as the top player of Region XV.
Rochford went on to ply his trade in multiple countries like the Netherlands, Israel, France, England, Switzerland, Lithuania, Iceland, Portugal, and Kosovo. On top of that, 2017 was the year in which he became the champion of the Lithuanian National Basketball League.Â
Kinu Rochford dies: What happened at Harlem Shooting?
According to a report in the New York City Daily News, the shooting happened while a big community basketball tournament was taking place in a park-like area behind an apartment building at the NYC Housing Authority King Towers complex. Rochford was among the ones taking part in the tournament when the shooting erupted. Patrol officers said that they had been called to the approximate location of West 112th Street, around 70 Lenox Avenue, after several shots were fired, and they are said to have arrived a little before 10:25 pm.
Police found three people injured along with Rochford; one victim was identified as a 28-year-old man who suffered a gunshot wound in the lower leg. Another person, a 22-year-old young lady, who had been shot in her right upper arm, was the second injured person. The other two individuals were taken to a hospital in Harlem, and they were described as being in stable condition only. Authorities haven’t made any public announcements about arrested people or given a description of a possible culprit. The case is still under investigation.
