An innocent bystander shot dead in a Brooklyn park was a playground peacemaker who settled disputes and helped keep children safe, friends and family said Monday.
Christopher Ross, 53, was playing handball in Crown Heights? Lincoln Terrace Park when he was hit by a stray bullet about 5:45 p.m. Sunday, police said. He died at the scene.
?He goes there all the time to play handball, just to get a sweat in,? the victim?s nephew Corey Harmon told the Daily News. ?It?s a one in a million chance that this happens.?
Ross? wife Veronica Peters was so distraught Monday she could barely make it down the steps of the home she shared with her husband just a few blocks from the park where he died.
Since yesterday, I can?t sleep, I can?t eat,? she said. ?He said he loves me and kissed me and told me he?s coming back, but he never came back. He?s just gone, just like that. He was a good man. Everybody loved him. He loved kids. They just took him away from me. He was the love of my life. The person I loved for 20-something years ? a long time.?
?I don?t have words,? Peters added. ?The guns are killing us. Get the guns off the street. I can?t take it no more.?
A 57-year-old park regular who goes by the name Supreme witnessed the shocking shooting, recounting there around 20 shots fired in the crowded park.
?There was a lot of people running and I was ducking,? he said. ?The kids was crying and the parents were diving on top of the kids and covering the kids. It was a frightening scene for the kids. The kids (were) very hysterical.?
Ross had a group of regulars he played handball with who enjoyed the classic city game as much as he did, the victim?s brother-in-law Jamal James said.
?He was a people person, the most kindhearted guy in the community,? said James, who last saw Ross about an hour before the slaying.
?Two weeks ago, a little boy in the park was mugged and some guy took away his money, about $35. Christopher gave the boy $35 and reassured him that everything would be alright and that he would speak to the people who did this to him.?
?He was able to diffuse any conflict so it?s crazy that this happened to him,? the brother-in-law added. ?Everybody is still in shock. It?s sad. I don?t know. It?s sad.?
Jacques Lamour, 54, met Ross on the handball court when the two men were kids growing up. They remained lifelong friends, and Lamour?s kids called Ross their uncle.
?I just want justice, that?s all I want,? Lamour said, frustrated there have been no arrests. ?I don?t wanna act like a vigilante. I hope the police catch him.?
On Monday, Lamour visited the court where Ross was slain, trying to wrap his head around the tragedy.
?Chris likes to play handball, that?s his passion. You could never take that out of Chris,? Lamour said. ?He?s a gem. This should have never happened.?
Ross? sister, Lynn Fraser, said the shooting was ?senseless.?
?He was a very kind and jovial person,? Fraser said. ?He was moral and calm with such a pleasant personality, much better than I am. On the whole, I?m sickened and disturbed.?
Lenox Decamp, who knew the victim for 15 years, said Ross was more like a brother than a friend.
?He had unquestionable character,? said Decamp, a Marine veteran who teared up as he talked. ?He was a kind and loving father. The only thing he was guilty of was breaking hearts because every woman would fall in love with him.?
Decamp said Ross was a general contractor who could fix just about everything. Ross had just helped Decamp tile his bathroom on Friday, leaving him with shiny new squares on the floor.
?My 89-year-old mother called him a big old teddy bear because he was soft, kind and was chubby,? Decamp said. ?She adored him.?
Ross, who had emigrated from Guyana as a young boy, was the DJ for family events, proud relatives said.
?Reggae, soca, calypso, he was a well-versed DJ,? said nephew Corey Harmon.
?It?s too normalized, the killing,? said Harmon sadly. ?The park was still full, everyone was still playing. It?s senseless. To gain a reputation for killing innocents, shooting in a park full of people ? kids, children, adults. What reputation is that? You?ve taken someone who was worth more than clearly you are.?
?What?s going to stop the senseless killing and the violence?? Harmon added. ?It?s just sad.?
?He was a very nice guy,? said Ross? landlord, who declined to share his name. ?He doesn?t meddle with anyone. He took care of his family. He was the breadwinner.?
A neighbor said she didn?t know Ross well, but was nearly as upset as his close friends.
?Nobody should have to bury their family for just playing in the park,? she said. ?This is terrible. I?m just sad.?
An NYPD Community Affairs sergeant stopped by the family home on Monday.
?This is heartbreaking,? the sergeant said. ?A stray bullet. It could have been any one of us.?
The sergeant tried to console the victim?s devastated family.
?I?m just broken, done for? said Jessica Peters, Ross? daughter, wiping away tears.
?He was a good man. He didn?t deserve this. He died doing something he loved, handball. A stray bullet in broad daylight! My dad just went outside to enjoy the beautiful sunlight.?
?He always made sure he went out at a reasonable time,? she added. ?No word in the dictionary can describe him. He had a heart of gold.?
Homicides citywide have soared 29% this year, with 244 slayings through Sunday compared to 189 by this point last year.
And shootings have jumped even more dramatically: 1,017 people were shot citywide this year through Sunday, an 85% spike from the 551 shot during the same period last year.
In Brooklyn?s 77th Precinct, where detectives are investigating Ross? shooting, 13 people have been murdered so far this year compared to six by this time last year. Forty people have been shot in the precinct, twice the tally at this point last year.
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