Beloved Birmingham student athlete, 17, fatally shot outside Woodlawn High School ‘always had a smile’

A beloved Birmingham City Schools senior and student athlete has died after he was shot Tuesday night following a high school basketball game.

Gerald Andre Lomax Jr., 17, was pronounced dead Wednesday after his family made the painful decision to remove him from life support.

Lomax played basketball and football at Jackson-Olin High School.

“We are saddened and heartbroken by the loss,’' said Birmingham City Schools Superintendent Mark Sullivan, “and we send our love and heartfelt condolences to the family.”

“Parents and guardians, I’m asking for your help,’' the superintendent said. “Recent acts of senseless violence have no place in our community.”

“We owe it to our children to give them the safest environment possible, and the opportunity to enjoy a full life,’' Sullivan said. “Parents, aunts, uncles and neighbors, we’re all in this together. Please talk to your children.”

The fatal shooting happened after the Woodlawn vs. Jackson-Olin basketball game Tuesday at Woodlawn.

Police said an argument following the game escalated into a barrage of gunfire. The shooting happened in the 5400 block of Second Avenue North.

Family of Lomax said he was not involved in the dispute, but instead trying to break it up.

As Lomax and his friends got in their vehicle to leave, someone opened fire on them, striking Lomax who was in a passenger’s seat.

Woodlawn High School Shooting Nov. 12, 2024 — More than 50 shots were fired Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, during a fight following a basketball game at Woodlawn High School.(Special to AL.com)

The driver drove to the high school seeking help.

Lomax was taken to UAB Hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

There was an outpouring of grief on social media following Lomax’s death.

One former coach described him as “one of the most respectful” kids he had ever coached.

He is being remembered for his sense of humor.

“He always had a smile and was gonna make it his business to speak every time he saw you,’’ another mourner wrote.

A Birmingham police school resource officer posted her memories of Lomax alongside a photo taken with him.

“You always, always kept me laughing, hugging me, told me you loved me and joking around…never a dull moment with you,’’ the officer wrote. “You made me a better officer, a better person, and a better listener. Forever my kid.”

Lomax is Birmingham’s 140th homicide this year and among at least 15 Birmingham City Schools students shot and killed since January 2022.

No arrests have been announced.

Anyone with information is asked to call homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.