High School Football Star, 17, Dies Following Drive-By Shooting

An Ohio community is in mourning this week after a high school football star died after he was struck by a bullet in a drive-by shooting earlier this month.

Michael Chappman, 17, had been confined to a hospital bed since the July 6 shooting at a small park in Cleveland.

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The John Hay High School quarterback died Sunday, his mother told reporters.

Chappman was at the park with a friend after leaving work when the shots suddenly rang out.

"I never thought I'd be shot," the paralyzed teen told WJW-TV in an interview days after the shooting. "I don't do anything, but be at home, on my phone or at football practice or at work."

The bullet reportedly went through Chappman's throwing arm, as well as his torso.

The precise cause of his death was not clear.

According to a GoFundMe page created to raise money to pay for his medical bills, Chappman was being scouted to play for colleges "like Notre Dame and Bowling Green University" before a stray bullet dashed his dreams before they could even begin and left him "a victim of the unending violence flooding the streets of Cleveland."

Read: 13-Year-Old Boy Dies After Being Struck by Falling Bullet: 'Our Hearts Go Out to You'

The fundraisers were hopeful that, by getting Chappman the best treatment money could buy, he might one day walk again. Sadly, that day never came.

Meanwhile, investigators are still searching for answers as to why the once promising teen was left paralyzed. Anyone with information on the crime is asked to call Cleveland police.

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