19 Year old Gopher football player shot and killed

[Guest Vern Gagne]

Credit ESPN.Com and the AP

 

MINNEAPOLIS -- Hours after his first college football game, a Minnesota player was shot dead near a downtown bar following a confrontation with three men.

 

"We lost a family member," Gophers coach Glen Mason said Sunday at a news conference to announce the death of Brandon Hall, a 19-year-old redshirt freshman.

 

Hall was shot about eight blocks from the Metrodome during a dispute between a group of teammates and three other men about 2 a.m., police said. The players had accused the men of assaulting Gophers player Damian Haye and ripping a gold chain from his neck.

 

As the players approached, the three men began walking away and went into a van, police spokeswoman Cyndi Barrington said. One of them got out of the van and began walking toward the players.

 

"At that point, someone in the group said, 'He's got a gun!' and they scattered," Barrington said. "But the suspect was still able to take a shot."

 

Hall was pronounced dead at Hennepin County Medical Center.

 

"To the best of my knowledge, Brandon Hall was an innocent victim," Mason said.

 

A handgun was recovered and the three men were arrested but have not been charged. Barrington said charges could come Tuesday.

 

The alleged gunman is a 28-year-old suspected gang member from Minneapolis, who has more than 80 police contacts as a suspect, witness or victim in crimes, the Star Tribune reported.

 

Hall, a 6-foot-5, 270-pound defensive lineman from Detroit, made one tackle in the Golden Gophers' 42-0 opening victory over Southwest Texas State on Saturday night.

 

"He was a wonderful person," Hall's aunt, Cynthia Hall, told WJBK-TV in Detroit. "He was very helpful to his mother. They were very close."

 

Mason met with players and some of Hall's friends early Sunday. He said the team canceled its Sunday practice and was not sure when the Gophers would resume workouts for their game at Louisiana-Lafayette.

 

"They're kids and they're looking for help," Mason said. "And we intend to give them all the help we can in dealing with this loss."

 

Athletics director Joel Maturi said the school would provide counselors for the team.

 

"These are all things that none of us have been taught to deal with," he said.

 

At Finney High School in Detroit, Hall's alma matter, football coach Tony Elliot wasn't sure how he would break the news to his players, many of whom played with Hall. Elliot never coached Hall but said he would visit the team on trips home from Minnesota and work with the players.

 

"He cared about the program and was willing to volunteer and help out," Elliott told The Detroit Free Press. "Before I knew it, he was there during his spring break, working techniques with my football class."

 

It's the third tragedy to strike a Minnesota football team in just over a year. Last summer, Minnesota Vikings offensive tackle Korey Stringer died of heat stroke in training camp. And last week, the wife of Vikings offensive tackle Lewis Kelly died of pregnancy complications.

 

 

 

Why the fuck was this asshole not in prison. The Police should get the ok to shoot too kill gangmembers. They contribute nothing to society and any trial and jail time cost the tax payers money.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest kkktookmybabyaway]

Uh, because the ACLU didn't want them po-po's violating his civil rights?