15-year-old was student at Smith Middle School
By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer
Quincy Bowens is being hailed as a hero for his last act — trying to get his two-year-old cousin safely inside as more than a dozen bullets raked the front of the apartment complex in Durham where his aunt lives.
Bowens, a 15-year-old Smith Middle School student, was struck by a bullet Monday evening around 7 p.m. on the front porch of the apartment. He was taken to Duke Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.
Smith Middle School principal Valerie Reinhardt said that even though Bowens was new to the school — he transferred there last October — he was known as a fun-loving youngster with a cordial disposition.
“He was a very joyful person,†Reinhardt said. But on a questionnaire about what he wanted to do in life, he didn’t shy away from addressing the problems he saw around him.
“He indicated he wanted to be an attorney and work with disadvantaged youths,†Reinhardt said.
Like many who knew Bowens, who lived on Gomains Avenue in Chapel Hill, the Smith school community was still in shock Wednesday as word filtered out about the shooting.
“It was just so senseless,†Reinhardt said.
Memorial arrangements have not been announced and Reinhardt said school officials are in contact with the family to find the right way to honor Bowens.
Durham police have no suspects in the case and are looking for a gold, older-model Saturn sedan. Witnesses said the car was driven by a black male with medium complexion and dreadlocks or braids. According to a police report, there were conflicting reports of how many people were in the car at the time of the shooting.
Anyone with information about the homicide is asked to call the Durham Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division at 560-4440 or Crime Stoppers at 683-1200. Crime Stoppers pays cash rewards for information leading to arrests in felony cases and callers never have to identify themselves.