Police identify teen killed in Cedar Rapids shooting

CEDAR RAPIDS — A 17-year-old who was killed in a shooting Wednesday night in northeast Cedar Rapids has been identified as Cristian Upah, of Marion, described as “a boy filled with love and glee.”

Cedar Rapids police were called at 10:09 p.m. Wednesday to the 3500 block of Oakland Road NE, and found Upah suffering from a gunshot wound to his upper torso. He was taken to a hospital where he died.

A GoFundMe page that was started Thursday on behalf of his family says the boy, who went by CJ, was enthusiastic about graduating high school and entering the workforce. He wanted to visit Las Vegas and see the pawnshop from the reality TV show “Pawn Stars.”

“CJ is best described as a bundle of joy, bringing smiles to everyone’s face with every word he spoke. His sparkle didn’t just light up a room but it made any terrible mood turn amazing. He was known to have one of those smiles that was contagious. He was a boy filled with love and glee. He accepted anyone into his life and would often show his kindness and gratitude,” the GoFundMe reads.

As of Friday afternoon, the fundraising page and hit $2,300 in donations.

The page was started by a friend of the teen, according to his father, Jason Upah. Any money raised there will be put toward a memorial of some kind in Cristian’s honor, his dad said.

Cristian enjoyed sports and grew up playing and watching football, according to his dad. He developed a close group of friends in high school, and did well academically.

“He excelled in math, algebra, whatever it was. That seemed to be his strong point,” Jason Upah said. “The kid loved computers. He’d teach me how to work my phone.”

The shooting remains under investigation, as Cedar Rapids police continue to search for a perpetrator.

Callers to 911 reporting hearing a disturbance Wednesday night, followed by a gunshot.

Maria Varroso, who lives a couple houses down from where the boy was shot, said she had the television playing loudly Wednesday and didn’t hear any fighting. But she heard the gunshot. She said she didn’t want to look outside, but about 10 minutes later she heard police vehicles coming down the street.

Tracy Languth lives next door to where the shooting happened, and he was one of those who called 911. He said he was inside his house when his dogs started barking, and then he heard the shot. He said he heard multiple teenagers outside, and yelled at them, swearing, and asking them what was going on. But by the time Languth got to the door after calling the police, most of the teenagers had left.

He said he saw a car that looked like it had run into a curb and stopped. Outside the vehicle, in his neighbor’s driveway, he saw Upah on the ground, trying to sit up, and a few teenage girls standing around him, talking on their phones. Languth was worried about going outside to help, but soon saw the police arrive and start giving the boy CPR.

Languth said he’d already been looking into getting surveillance cameras at his house because of some previous car burglaries, but he’s definitely going to get them now.

“This is the first thing like this that’s ever happened around here,” he said.

Tom Wardell, who lived a few houses down, agreed. He said he’s lived in his house for 45 years and has never seen anything like this in the area.

“It’s always been a nice neighborhood,” Wardell said.

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