Abubacarr Darboe, 22, was fatally shot the night of December 20, 2025, while home in Madison, Wisconsin, for the holidays. Known as Buba, he had been born in The Gambia, grew up in Madison, graduated from Madison East High School as a standout soccer player, and was a Vanderbilt University student studying economics and business expecting to graduate in May 2026. He had returned to Madison a few days before the shooting to spend the break with family.

Shortly after 10:30 p.m., Darboe was visiting two of his brothers and was riding in a vehicle on the 3500 block of Portage Road when another vehicle approached and gunfire was directed at them. Darboe and one brother were struck; another brother was uninjured. A man drove the two wounded to a hospital, where Darboe died. Investigators recovered a firearm and multiple shell casings and opened a homicide investigation. Detectives quickly identified a suspect vehicle and traced two people to a Milwaukee Street residence; both were booked on Wisconsin Department of Corrections warrants, not homicide charges. No one has been publicly identified as charged in the killing, and family members say they believe the brothers were mistaken for other people.

Anyone who knew Abubacarr Darboe, his movements that night, or who has information about the shooting is asked to come forward.