Florida State Ethan Pritchard (Image: Florida State)
Four arrests have been made in connection with the shooting of Florida State freshman linebacker Ethan Pritchard, Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Mark Glass said on Wednesday.
Jayden Bodison, Caron Miller and an unnamed minor were charged with three counts of attempted murder and one count of shooting into an occupied vehicle. Germany Atkins was also charged with one count of probation violation.
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The incident happened on Aug. 31 in Havana, Florida, where Pritchard was shot while inside a vehicle, according to the Gadsden County Sheriff’s Office. Authorities believe the shooting was a mistake in identity, Gadsden County Sheriff Morris Young said.
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Pritchard was dropping off an aunt and a child when he got shot in the back of the head, according to Glass. He added that the linebacker was “not doing anything wrong.”
Pritchard is currently in critical but stable condition at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital.
Florida State honored the freshman linebacker on Saturday during its 77-3 win against East Texas A&M. Pritchard’s father, Earl Pritchard, attended the game along with another family member as the team wore No. 35 wristbands. Safety Earl Little Jr. also brought a No. 35 jersey for the coin toss before the game.
An emotional Mike Norvell–head coach of the Seminoles – spoke about the linebacker following the win.
“I’ve recruited [Pritchard] for years and got to watch him grow,” Norvell said. “The way that he plays the game, it’s a passion and he loves it, he absolutely loves it. To know that right now that’s taken away from him in a senseless act, you don’t always know why you have to go through things in life, but I do believe God has his hands over Ethan and this football team.”
The coach was also supportive of Earl Pritchard and praised the father during his difficult moment.
“To have Earl here today, he’s a wonderful man,” he said. “Being with him, I know it’s very hard. I know it’s so hard for anybody to have to go through, but he told me earlier in the week, and he said, ‘I know where my boy wants to be. So I’m going to stand in this place for him.'”
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