Longtime coach shot dead: A longtime high school basketball coach was reportedly shot dead in Detroit earlier this week, it was reported.
Charles Knott, who was in his 50s, worked for Detroit Public Schools for years and became the girls’ basketball coach at Detroit Cody High School. He was found dead on Tuesday night of a gunshot wound outside his Detroit apartment, reported the Detroit Free Press.
“He loved to be around kids. Even when he was working as a janitor, he was always talking to kids,” cousin Retonia Knott-Smith told the paper. “He was very outgoing and direct. So if they were doing something wrong he would check them. They related to him because he just talked to them in their language.”
In the incident, a driver pulled up pulled up alongside Knott’s car and fired several shots, reported the Detroit News.
“It’s a shame,” said Donald Anderson, the Cody football coach, according to the News. “Coach Knott took pride in his job. A lot of people don’t know, but he also coached softball, too. Many of his former players kept in contact with him, some on a daily basis.”
“He was the kind of guy who would make sure his players did their chores at home. He cared about them.”
Principal Jonathan Matthews told WDIV-TV that authorities spoke with the school Wednesday of his death, reported The Associated Press.
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