College Football Hopeful Michael Blidi Jr. Shot and Paralyzed Outside His Home | Dreams Cut Short

A promising football future was tragically derailed when gunfire struck 19-year-old Michael Blidi Jr. outside his Brooklyn Park, Minnesota home in the early morning hours of May 29.

According to police, the shooting occurred shortly after 12:30 a.m. in the 6000 block of Garwood Road. Blidi Jr. was standing on the sidewalk when a vehicle pulled up, and someone exited and opened fire, hitting him in the abdomen. The suspect fled the scene, and no arrests have been made as of yet.

“This case is assigned to our major case detectives, and they are actively working on it,” according to Brooklyn Park Police Inspector Matt Rabe.

Blidi Jr.’s parents confirmed that he had recently graduated from Milton Hershey School in Hershey, Pennsylvania, where he was a standout two-way player on the football team. He had secured a spot to play at Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge this upcoming season, a dream that now hangs in the balance due to the severity of his injuries.

The senseless act of violence has left his family devastated and a community mourning the loss of a future filled with promise—both on and off the football field.

Please keep the family in your prayers. Michael Blidi Jr.’s brother Philip Blidi just signed as a rookie with the NFL’s Tennessee Titans after playing college football at Auburn, Indiana and Texas Tech.