Neighbors in Harlem identified the college basketball star back home on break as the 21-year-old killed in a mass shooting that also injured eight others early Monday morning.

"It's beyond senseless," Darius Lee's high school basketball coach, Chris Williams, said of the gun violence that claimed the athlete's life.

Lee was among five people found shot on the footpath along the FDR Highway, just under the Madison Avenue Bridge around 12:30 a.m. NYPD Chief Brian McGee, commanding officer of Detective Borough Manhattan North, said gunfire erupted in the area of East 139th St and 5th Avenue where a large group had gathered.

All five victims were taken to the hospital by EMS, while another 4 victims were taken to the hospital by other means. The victims included seven men and two women.