Saturday, May 10, 2008

Jets safety Elam loses third sibling to gunfire

RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. -- The older brother of New York Jets safety Abram Elam was fatally shot, the third sibling in the family to die by gunfire since 1987.

Riviera Beach police officers were called to the scene of a shooting at about 12:35 p.m. Friday, and found Donald Charles Elam shot in the lower back, according to a Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office news release.

Donald Elam, 33, was taken to a hospital and later pronounced dead.

The Palm Beach Post reported that Abram Elam's brother, Donald Runner, was fatally shot in 1987. He was 17. Christina Elam, his sister, was shot in 1999.

"Abram learned this afternoon that his brother has been killed; the circumstances of his death are still unclear," the Jets said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to Abram and his family."

Donald Elam was once the youngest person in the Palm Beach County indicted on a first-degree murder charge, the Post said. Elam, then 14, was acquitted of the 1989 shooting.




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