Tyson Gay and daughter Trinity enjoy a clown moment.
The teen daughter of former US Olympic sprinter Tyson Gay was fatally shot early Sunday, police said.
Police say 15-year-old Trinity Gay, a star high school runner herself, was struck by a bullet during a shoot-out at about 4:00 am in the parking lot of the Cook Out restaurant and pronounced dead at University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital.
Witnesses told police gunfire was exchanged between a gray Dodge Charger and a dark-coloured sports car with tinted windows. Authorities found the Dodge and detained two people for questioning as they continue to search for the other vehicle.
Messages of support came to Tyson Gay and his family from the athletics world.
“Sending our thoughts and prayers to TysonLGay and his loved ones as they mourn the tragic and senseless loss of his daughter, Trinity,” USA Track and Field tweeted.
“Condolences to Tyson Gay and his family… 15-year-old girl dies after shooting at Lexington restaurant,” tweeted former Olympic sprint rival Ato Boldon from Trinidad and Tobago.
According to the Lexington Herald-Leader newspaper, Trinity Gay was a sophomore sprint star at Lafayette High School, where her father once ran. She was a fourth-generation sprinter who placed fourth in last year’s girls’ 100m state final.
“Our hearts are broken this morning over the loss of Trinity to this tragic and senseless act of violence,” Fayette County School Superintendent Manny Caulk said in a statement to the newspaper.
Tyson Gay is the fastest sprinter in history not to have an Olympic medal after a career nagged by doping disqualifications.
The 2007 world 100- and 200-metre champion and four-time US 100m champion suffered a hamstring injury at the 2008 Olympic trials and did not medal at Beijing.
At the 2012 London Olympics Gay was on the US 4×100 relay that finished second to Usain Bolt-led Jamaica, but the Americans were stripped of the medal in 2014 based on a positive test by Gay in May of 2013 that he blamed on an unnamed third party.
Gay served his suspension and returned to run again two months ago at the Rio Olympics where the Americans ran third in the 4×100 relay behind Jamaica and Japan, only to be disqualified because of a faulty exchange between teammates Justin Gatlin and Mike Rodgers.