A Louisiana State University basketball player was fatally gunned down after being involved in a fight early Friday morning.
Wayde Sims, 20, a junior playing forward position on the team, was shot around 12:25 a.m. and was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead, the Baton Rouge Police Department said according to The Advocate.
An autopsy later determined Sims’ cause of death as a gunshot to the head that traveled to his neck, East Baton Rouge Coroner Dr. Beau Clark told Fox 8.
Sims was reportedly involved in a heated altercation outside a fraternity party near the campus of Southern University that turned physical.
In videos released by the Baton Rouge Police Department, Sims along with several unidentified men can be seen fist fighting. At the end of the clip, a shot is fired causing the men to scatter.
At this time no arrests have been made and no one has been taken into custody as police are still trying to identify the individuals in the video.
Sims was entering his third season as a member of LSU’s basketball program.
Will Wade, Sims’ coach, opened up about his untimely death saying, “We are all devastated. We need your prayers for Wayde, for his family, for all of us. We are heartbroken,” in a statement obtained by Nola.com.
Wade also spoke about Sims during a press conference on Friday. “He was a blast to be around at all times. We’re devastated and in shock. We’re going to support Wayde’s family and our guys.”
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Friday would have been the Tigers’ first official practice, however, Wade decided to cancel practice to allow his players to grieve.
“We’re not going to worry about basketball right now,” Wade said during the press conference. “We’ve got a lot of bigger issues than basketball. Everybody grieves differently.”
“We started the process this morning and we’re going to continue it for as long as we need to,” Wade added.
Sims love for basketball started at an early age as his father Wayne also played basketball at LSU in 1987 to 1991.
“It’s every father’s dream. For me playing at LSU and him following in my footsteps, it’s a dream come true,” Wayne said at his son’s signing day ceremony in 2015.
“He’s a lot better than I am, at this stage. I had some strengths, some things I did a little better than what he does now; but overall, I think he’s a little bit more advanced than I was.”
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