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Who is Ethan Liming? Teen beaten to death near LeBron James-founded school after 'water gun' fight

A brawl broke out after a plastic water gun was shot near an Ohio school run by NBA superstar LeBron James' charity, and a 17-year-old boy was beaten to death

AKRON, OHIO: A brawl broke out after a plastic water gun was shot near an Ohio school run by NBA superstar LeBron James' charity, and a 17-year-old boy was beaten to death. According to authorities, On the evening of June 2nd, Ethan Liming and two pals were driving around Akron, firing the SplatRBall Water Bead Blaster at things and also possibly towards unsuspecting people, and later they stopped in the parking lot of James' I Promise School around 10:40 pm.

One of them shot the fake gun toward a group of four basketball players on neighboring courts. A small brawl started and Liming, who had been sitting in the car, came out to try to defuse the situation, according to his father Bill Liming, who spoke to ABC5 Cleveland. Based on a conversation he had with a detective, the senior student at Firestone Community Learning Center may not have realized the gravity of the situation. Bill told ABC5 Cleveland, “Ethan still thought it was horseplay when he got out of the car and was trying to tell people, ‘It’s relaxed. It’s just a joke. It’s a joke.’ And the individuals didn’t like that. One individual attacked him. Ethan still tried to tell them it was just a joke. And then another individual came up behind them, struck him in the head.”

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According to authorities, Ethan Liming was discovered unconscious on the ground. He was pronounced dead on the spot, with blunt force injuries to the head being the cause of death. Chief Stephen Mylett of the Akron Police Department said on Wednesday, June 4 that the teen ‘lost his life in a senseless act of violence' and that he ‘did not deserve to die.’ Mayor Dan Horrigan of Akron has requested anyone with information about the perpetrators to come forward. He said in a statement, “This type of violence in our community has ripple effects that touch each person, including myself, in profound ways, and I know the city of Akron is in mourning because of this tremendous loss.”

James founded the I Promise School in 2018 as a collaboration between his organization and Akron Public Schools. It was closed for the summer holidays at the time of the tragic attack. The Los Angeles Lakers star tweeted the day following Ethan Liming’s death, “Our condolences go out to the family who lost a loved one!! May the heavens above watch over you during this tragedy! Pray for our community!” The LeBron James Family Foundation also said it was ‘devastated’ in a statement. The statement reads, “We are grieving with our community over another senseless act of violence. Our I PROMISE School campus is safe and secure as we continue to do everything we can to support our students, families, and the entire Akron community.”