St. Lucian soccer star Isidore Philip Tisson shot to death outside Brooklyn club during NYC stay
Adams IV for News An NYPD officer guards the scene close to where visiting St. Luician soccer player Isidore Phillip Tisson was shot Monday morning.
A St. Lucian soccer star in New York for a tournament was shot to death in Brooklyn early Monday, hours after scoring a goal that sent his team to the finals, police sources said.
Isidore Philip Tisson, 27, was shot in a car outside a Crown Heights cafe around 4:25 a.m. where he'd stopped after leaving a nightclub where the team celebrated.
When Tisson climbed back into the car, an unknown gunman approached from behind, and opened fire. Sources say the bullet passed through Tisson's head and struck a 24-year-old woman who was seated next to him in the chest.
She was taken to Brookdale Hospital in stable condition, police said. Two other women who were in the car were unhurt.
Investigators were looking at whether Tisson had gotten into an argument with someone at a popular Caribbean club called Tropiks a few blocks from the scene of the shooting, and was followed when he left, sources said.
Team officials said Tisson had been out celebrating the team's 1-0 victory Sunday over St. Kitt's which sent them to the finals of the Digicel Caribbean Cup tournament.
Tisson, was a center-forward and a substitute for St. Lucia's National team when it attempted to qualify for the 2010 World Cup. He scored the winning goal in Sunday's game, said team president Martin Daniel.
"It was only the second time in 16 years that St. Lucia has made it to the finals [of this tournament]," he said.
Relatives said Tisson, who was unmarried and had a 3-year-old daughter, was a driven soccer player well known around his country and had been in New York since May to compete in the tournament.
"I feel that my whole world is falling apart," his mother, Rosleyn Tisson, said by phone. "He was very serious about what he was doing."
"It's a day of mourning in St. Lucia," said Tisson's cousin, Dani Hippolyte. "Everybody was rooting for him."
The match at Thomas Jefferson HS in East New York ended around 5:15 p.m. and the team stayed around to watch Jamaica play Barbados to see who their competition in next week's final would be. Jamaica won.
The players then went out to celebrate and Tisson ended up at the club.
Daniel said he could not imagine Tisson getting into a fight with anyone.
"He is very tall and big and gentle as a teddy bear," he said. "Everyone is surprised."
, a member of the , has been killed by a gunshot wound to the head in New York. Tisson was in New York participating in the Digicel Caribbean Cup tournament.

Several members of the team were at Tropiks Bar and Grill in  celebrating an earlier victory over Saint Kitts and Nevis. At 4.30am, Tisson entered a parked car outside of Tropiks. While seated in the rear of the car, Tisson was shot in the head. Three women were in the car at the time of the shooting, with one requiring medical attention for a shoulder wound.

According to teammate , Tisson left the bar at 3:30 A.M. () with an unknown woman.  Tisson's brother remained with his teammates and only found out about the shooting afterwards by phone.  Emmanuel also stated that no one witnessed Tission involved an argument with anyone. A police official said that there are no known suspects. Police are waiting for video evidence.

Tisson had scored in the Saint Kitts and Nevis game. St. Lucia advanced to the finals with their win over Saint Kitts and Nevis to face Jamaica. The team stated they will still play in the final on Sunday "despite the loss of a friend, a teammate and one of their most powerful players".

In St. Lucia, Tisson is survivied by his three year-old daughter.