WASHINGTON — An NFL player from D.C. on the doorstep of his dreams is recovering after being shot in Northeast on Monday along with three other men.
Jaylen Twyman, 21, was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings just two months ago, after a lifetime of struggle that had seen his brother and uncle gunned down.
"He's in good spirits ... He's going to make a full recovery. He didn't require surgery," said Thomas Byrd, his former coach at H.D. Woodson High School in Northeast Washington, who has been talking to Twyman's family.
A witness said Twyman pulled to the University of Maryland Capital Region Medical Center in a personal car and walked into the emergency room Monday. His shirt was stained with blood, he was holding his right side, and mouthing the words, "I got shot," the man waiting in the E-R said.
Twyman was so emotional he could barely speak on the phone when the Viking drafted him in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft.
"Yes sir," he said sobbing after the Vikings called on draft day. "You're going to get everything I got."
Twyman had struggled to find a way out of the Lincoln Heights neighborhood where violence had claimed the lives of friends and family members.
On Monday, after pulling up to visit an aunt, someone opened fire, hitting Twyman and three other men.
No arrests have been made so far and police are looking for a silver SUV.
Twyman was always trying to uplift D.C., said Coach Byrd: Giving away turkeys at Thanksgiving, and coming back to Woodson from college to work out with current students.
"Jaylen was one of those kids who wanted to give back to his community, wanted to see better things for his community, but unfortunately tragedy struck him," said Byrd.
Twyman didn't respond to a text. We've been unable so far to reach his family. And were still trying to get an update on his condition.
Coach Byrd hopes he's recovered by training camp, and from there he says, the sky's the limit.
Our partners at The Washington Post reported his older brother had been shot and killed in broad daylight back in 2016. His uncle was murdered 2 years earlier.
Here's what Jaylen said in that 2016 profile: "We always talk about how we're going to get our family out of here, no matter what ... If the football thing doesn't work out, the education thing is going to get our family up out of here."