Grief was heavy in East New York on Monday for Justin Richey.

"We just got to come together as a community," friend Tyana Hale said, in tears.

Richey was shot dead on the street, just one day after he had celebrated his 16th birthday and attended a community group's anti-violence basketball tournament.

"Saturday, No Kids Left Behind, we were with him and he was just smiling," Bishop David Maldonado of the 75th Precinct Clergy Council said at a press conference Monday. "To hear, 24 hours later, over violence, his life was taken away. All have to say is, 'Let's stop the violence.'"

"He was hanging out for a couple of hours. He was telling me it was his birthday. I said, 'Come back a little bit later, I got something for you,'" said Ty Newton, a member of the No Kids Left Behind group. "Unfortunately, I never got to give him his gift."

Police said Richey was seen arguing with three males before they began beating him before one pulled out a gun and shot him several times, just after 5 p.m. Sunday at the intersection of Pine St. and Blake Ave. — about one minute walk from the Cypress Hills Houses, where Richey lived with his mother.

"I was just devastated, I was numb because, again that was somebody I literally just saw the day before," said Oluwatoyin Ayanfodun of the group Tomorrow's Leaders. "Probably one of the least expected kids to get into something like that, to be gunned down."

Police said he was not affiliated with any street gang.

"We have no information about a gang element here," NYPD Inspector John Chell said. "Obviously, in the 75th Precinct, we do have multiple gangs — this is one of the areas — but we're not ready to say that at this point in time."

A day after the shooting, there was a heavy police presence in the neighborhood as patrol officers and detectives investigated the fatal shooting.

"We have you, you're going to be safe," Chell said. "But in the meantime, we're still going to do proactive police work to glean some information about this tragic homicide."

The investigation occurs as the community mourns a teenager known as Chuck.

"Chuck was amazing. He would do anything to make anyone laugh," Hale said. "He would do anything to help anyone."

"He was a student I was looking to work with from middle school, all the way to high school," Ayanfodun said. "I wanted to help him get the college at some point."

Anyone with information on the case should contact the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-8477, or text CRIMES and then enter TIP577, or visit www.nypdcrimestoppers.com