Brooklyn Park mourns shooting death of teen who played basketball for Park Center High School

The mayor of Brooklyn Park has identified the 17-year-old who was shot to death last week as a member of last season's Park Center High School basketball program.

Syoka Siko was fatally wounded Friday night at the Regents Apartments in the 8400 block of Regent Avenue N. in Brooklyn Park. He was found in a vehicle that was stopped by the State Patrol on Interstate 94 near 53rd Avenue in north Minneapolis, police said.

A 17-year-old boy was arrested and remained jailed Monday pending possible charges as soon as Tuesday, the Hennepin County Attorney's Office said.

"It is with a heavy heart I post about the shooting death of another Brooklyn Park youth, Syoka," Mayor Lisa Jacobson wrote on Facebook. "Syoka was a star both on and off the field. He loved his parents, family, friends and sports.

"His death is tragic and extremely hard to imagine the pain his loved ones are going through. No one prepares to bury their children."

John Hedstrom, activities coordinator at Park Center High, said Siko was a junior varsity player last season who was on the postseason roster when the Pirates won the Class 4A state championship. Hedstrom said Siko had since transferred to Andover High School.

Members of this year's Park Center team "are pretty torn up" about Siko's death, Hedstrom said. "Two or three of them were teammates with him since grade school," he added.

Andover High School Principal Tim Feine sent a letter over the weekend to students' families informing them of the senior's death.

"We extend our deepest sympathies to his family and to the students and families who knew him," Feine's emailed letter read. "We will continue to keep Syoka and his family and friends in our thoughts during this difficult time."

A second 17-year-old male was shot during the same incident Friday night and taken by emergency responders to a hospital with noncritical wounds, according to police.

In a statement this weekend, police said they believed the shooting was not random and that the victims and suspects knew each other. Two other people are being sought as "persons of interest," police Inspector Elliot Faust said.

"It's worth mentioning that the three witnesses that were at the crime scene, one of whom was shot, are not cooperating with the investigation," Faust said. "So it's taking longer than we'd like."