FSU freshman returns to campus 3 months after getting shot
TALLAHASSEE — Florida State freshman linebacker Ethan Pritchard, who was shot in the back of the head following the team’s season opener in August, is expected to attend the Seminoles’ home finale Saturday.
Pritchard rang a bell and got a standing ovation while being released from Brooks Rehabilitation in Jacksonville on Thursday. He returned to Tallahassee on Friday and visited with teammates and coaches from an electric wheelchair.
Pritchard, a four-star recruit from Sanford, Florida, was released from Tallahassee Memorial Hospital early last month and transferred to Brooks to continue his recovery.
Pritchard was “not doing anything wrong” when he was shot outside an apartment complex on Aug. 31 near Tallahassee, authorities said. Pritchard was dropping off an aunt and a child following a family party when he was attacked in what officials said was a case of mistaken identity.
Four people were arrested in September in connection with the shooting.
“I remember everything,” Pritchard said in an interview with WESH-TV in Orlando. “I turned the corner and shots rang off. I put the car in reverse and just backed up and after that, I don’t remember what else happened.”
Pritchard added that he couldn’t move his right side when he arrived at the rehab facility in Jacksonville. But he woke up one morning with movement that continues to improve.
Suspect arrested in shooting of ‘Last Chance U’ coach
OAKLAND, Calif. — A suspect has been arrested in the shooting of college football coach John Beam, who was featured in the Netflix series “Last Chance U” and remains in critical condition after being shot on campus, the Oakland Police Department said Friday.
Few other details were available. It was the second shooting in two days at a school in Oakland.
Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee described Beam as a “giant” and a mentor, educator and lifeline for young people.
“For over 40 years, he has shaped leaders on and off the field, and our community is shaken alongside his family,” Lee said.
The Netflix docuseries focused on athletes at junior colleges striving to turn their lives around, and Beam’s Laney College Eagles starred in the 2020 season.
Two of Beam’s former players — brothers Nahshon and Rejzohn Wright, now in the NFL with the Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints — posted on social media after the shooting.
“You mean the world to me,” Rejzohn Wright said in a post with a photo of Beam.
His brother shared a photo of the coach alongside a broken heart emoji.
Beam, currently serving as athletic director, joined Laney College in 2004 as a running backs coach and became head coach in 2012, winning two league titles. According to his biography on the college’s website, 20 of his players have gone on to the NFL.
“The Peralta community is devastated by his shooting and deeply concerned for his well-being. We are stunned and heartbroken that such violence has touched our campus,” Mark Johnson a spokesperson for Peralta Community College District said in an emailed statement on Beam’s current medical status.
Beam’s shooting came a day after a student was shot at Oakland’s Skyline High School. The student is in stable condition.