Police on Wednesday arrested a man they say was involved in the shooting of a young man standing on a Brooklyn Park sidewalk and forever ended the victim's opportunity to play college football.

The gunfire occurred on May 29 shortly after 12:30 a.m. outside the man's home in the 6000 block of Garwood Road. The man said he was shot in the abdomen while standing on the sidewalk, according to Brooklyn Park police.

The man said a vehicle stopped and someone got out and shot him, police said. The vehicle fled before an arrest could be made.

Police Inspector Matt Rabe said a 36-year-old man was arrested in Brooklyn Park shortly before sunrise Wednesday and remains jailed on suspicion of second-degree assault. Charges have yet to be filed. The Star Tribune generally does not identify suspects before they are charged.

The victim is being identified by his parents as 19-year-old Michael Blidi Jr., who was bound this coming football season for Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge.

"His dream was terminated by a gunshot wound to his spinal cord, leaving him paralyzed from the knee down," his father, Michael Blidi Sr., wrote on an online fundraising page started to help with expenses related to the shooting.

"Doctors said he's not going to walk again," the posting said. "We, as a family, want to get him some extra help to make sure he walks again. We are asking for any donations ... to help our son walk again. Michael is a loving child full of life."

Blidi Jr. just graduated from Milton Hershey School in Hershey, Pa., where he played on offense and defense. Milton Hershey is an elite private school for grades pre-K through 12th that includes on-campus residency amid its 7,000-acre footprint. About one-third of its students come from outside Pennsylvania, according to the school's website.

The 116-year-old school's funding comes from a trust left by Milton and Catherine Hershey, of global chocolate fame. The trust allows for the coverage of all costs for its students, the school's website notes.

Milton Hershey's football team plays in its 7,000-seat stadium. A handful of alumni have made it to the NFL, including former Viking Joe Senser, a 1974 Milton Hershey graduate.

Michael Blidi Jr.'s brother Philip Blidi just signed as a rookie with the NFL's Tennessee Titans after playing college football at Auburn, Indiana and Texas Tech before that.