CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- To family and friends, 16-year-old Christopher Gates Jr. was known as a gentle giant, standing at 6 feet and 253 pounds.
Chris was a graduate of the Broken Men Foundation, a program that prides itself on giving boys the tools to take back their communities and lead in a positive way.
His family says Chris was always about showing love, especially toward his brothers, sisters, parents, and his aunt, Brittany Woodson.
"I'm going to miss his hugs, him being goofy," Woodson said. "It has shaken us up. He was the first baby in the family."
At 5:30 on Thursday afternoon, Chris and his friends were hanging out, trying to decide if they wanted to play basketball or not.
Crime Insider sources tell CBS 6 that Chris had words with another 17-year-old, and suddenly, the joking atmosphere turned serious.
Chris suffered a single gunshot wound to the chest and was later pronounced dead.
"My kids are that age and that they use these weapons like their toys like they're in a video game or something and they're not they're deadly, you can seriously get hurt," said a mother, who would like to remain anonymous. "My sons are 15 and 12. And this isn't the first time my son was sitting in my apartment, playing his video game and they shot in our backyard. I remember that it scared the mess out of them. We're moving."
Woodson says she is begging other teenagers to get rid of guns so other families won't have to endure the grief she and her family are feeling.
"There's just so much going on in my head," Woodson said. "I just really can't wrap my mind around it."
She hopes this message resonates with teenagers in the community.
"We utilize our village to the best that we can and things like this still happen to our kids," Woodson said. "Parents need to get more involved."
If you would like to donate toward helping Chris' family with his funeral expenses, you can visit this GoFundMe page.
This is a developing story, so anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.
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