Former Greenwood High School and Amanda Elzy High School athlete Denarius Grover died Wednesday night in Fort Myers, Florida, from gunshot wounds.
He was a member of Elzy’s basketball teams that won back-to-back state Class 4A championship teams in 2012 and 2013. He transferred to GHS for his junior season before playing basketball and football his senior year at South Fort Myers High School.
“It’s a very sad situation that has hit all of us who knew Denarius very hard,” said Greenwood High School football coach Clinton Gatewood. “He was an outstanding athlete and student. He was a guy who wanted to do better for his family.
“When he was a younger kid (at East Middle School), I used to call him ‘Future’ because he had so much athletic potential.”
The Lee County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a shooting around 11:40 p.m. Grover, 18, nicknamed Debo, was taken to a hospital, where he died from his injuries.
“He was a great kid. I enjoyed coaching him,” said former Amanda Elzy basketball coach Gerald Glass, who now coaches at Madison Central. “I know he will missed by all of us who knew him. It’s always sad to see these kinds of tragedies.”
Ruby Williams, who said she was related to Grover by marriage, told Ben Brasch of the News-Press in Fort Myers she heard two sets of about six gunshots each while she was getting ready for bed. Deputies then responded to the area of Concourse Drive and Gladiolus Drive.
Brasch said this morning it was still unclear if the shooting took place outside the home where Grover lived in the southwest Florida town.
Williams said she knew him as a kind young man. “The Debo I knew, he was well-mannered,” she said. “I never heard him say a curse word.”
• Contact Bill Burrus at 581-7237 or bburrus@gwcommonwealth.com.
