No arrests in Perkins grad shooting

Cleveland police are mum on a shooting Friday that claimed the life of a Perkins High graduate.

Anthony Blackman, 25, a 2003 graduate of Perkins High, died from a gunshot wound to the back.

Police have made no arrests and won't release information about the case, Cleveland police Det. Chuck Gove said.

"We don't want to jeopardize the investigation," Gove said.

Blackman, a former high school and community college basketball standout, was shot at about 2:40 p.m. in the courtyard of a housing project on East 79th Street.

Several residents heard the shots, but none of them immediately came forward to say they'd witnessed the shooting, police said.

Emergency crews found Blackman lying in the grass and still breathing, but he died in an ambulance on the way to MetroHealth Medical Center.

Police are asking anyone with information on the shooting to contact homicide detectives at 216-623-5464.

Blackman's family, meanwhile, will hold a funeral service at 10 a.m. Friday at Mt. Sinai Baptist Church in Cleveland. A wake will follow the funeral, and both are open to the public.

Blackman's uncle and legal guardian, Victor Watkins, said two of Blackman's Sandusky friends came to comfort the family over the weekend.

"It was nice," Watkins said. "He had a lot of friends in that area."

Blackman moved to Cleveland with his family several years ago to attend Cuyahoga Community College, where he played basketball.

He earned his associate degree in May 2009, and needed one more semester to earn his bachelor's, his family said.

Originally from Cleveland, Watkins moved to Erie County to take a job at the Sandusky Ford plant -- what's now Automotive Components Holding.

Watkins and his wife, Angela, became Blackman's legal guardians so they could move him to Perkins.

"One of the main reasons I moved up there, so he wouldn't get caught up here in these streets," Watkins said. "He was a hard worker. Had dreams of going overeas and playing basketball. Real clean-cut. Just a real good kid."

After playing at Cuyahoga Community College, Blackman earned a partial scholarship to play basketball at a small college in southeast Ohio.

T.J. James, who coached Blackman his first three years at Perkins and still teaches at the high school, remembered Blackman as a "coach's dream."

"As a person, he had a tough upbringing," James said. "He didn't have a mom or dad around, but he was very respectful. A kind and courteous young man.

"He never gave you one bit of a problem," James said. "He was always 'Yes sir, No sir.' Never made bad decisions off the court. One of the most overachieving kids I ever coached. He would just not take no for an answer."