Six men were shot and three died in Auburn, Alabama over the weekend after a fight occurred at a pool party, supposedly over a girl.The victims include current and former Auburn University Football players.
By: A.J. Niles
A National manhunt is underway for Desmonte Leonard, the shooter during a fight Saturday night in Auburn, Alabama, which injured six and killed three. The shooting occurred over this past weekend in the pool area of an apartment complex where many Auburn University students live.
WSFA 12 News in Montgomery, Alabama is reporting:
City of Auburn Police Chief Tommy Dawson confirmed the deceased victims as Demario Pitts, 20, of Opelika, Ala. Pitts died at East Alabama Medical Center. Also killed was Ladarious Phillips, 20, of Roanoke, Ala. He died at East Alabama Medical Center. The third fatally wounded victim was Edward Christian, 20, of Valdosta, Ga. He was pronounced dead on the scene. Both Phillips and Christian were former Auburn University football players.
Chief Dawson listed the injured victims as John Robertson, 20, and Xavier Moss, 19, both of Roanoke, Ala. The third victim is Eric Mack, 20, of Cameron, S.C.
Moss was treated and released from EAMC, while Mack, a current Auburn football player, was admitted for non-life-threatening injuries. Robertson is “fighting for his life” and is being treated at UAB Hospital in Birmingham.
Leonard, 22, of Montgomery, Alabama sped away from the party with two other men after the shooting occurred and police could not find him. The car they used to get away was found abandoned in a county that is a short distance away from Auburn. WSFA 12 News also reports:
When officers arrived on the scene in the 200 block of West Longleaf Drive, they found multiple gunshot victims near the complex’s clubhouse.
Witnesses say there was apparently a party and after an altercation occurred, shots rang out.
“It went from us chilling with females to a massacre…for no reason,” one witness explained.
Other witnesses are telling Auburn Police that the altercation occurred between Leonard and other party goers over a girl who was in attendance.
Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to call the Auburn Police Division at 334-501-3140 or anonymously by text or voice to the tip line at (334) 246-1391. An additional tip line has been set up at (334) 223-5400.
The U.S. Marshals are offering a $5,000 for information leading to the capture of Leonard. The FBI is also offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to Leonard’s conviction.
Auburn head football coach Gene Chizik issued this statement about the incident:
“This is a sad, sad day for everyone associated with the entire Auburn family. I am devastated by the passing of three young men, including two that I personally knew in Ed Christian and Ladarious Phillips and my heart goes out to their families. My thoughts and prayers are with their families and all of the victims involved in this tragic incident. Nobody should ever have to endure such unimaginable grief, and we will love and support the victims’ families during this terribly difficult time. We have a lot of people on our football team that are hurting right now and we’re going to do everything we can to help them get through this. We are relieved that Eric Mack, who was also a victim in this incident, is expected to make a full recovery. This is a very trying time for everyone involved, and I would just ask that you lift up the victims and their families in your prayers.”
What a worthless piece of sh-t! I hate thugs! They are the real enemy of the black community. They have killed more black people than the damn KKK! Look at what these worthless human beings are doing to our neighborhoods in Chicago! And we have the nerve to point our finger at white people and get mad at Gwyneth Paltrow for using the N word?! Hell we cause more destruction to our own race than any other race could. I’m tired of this!
Say that!
This is so tragic and sad. All I can do is pray for all those involved. It’s sad to hear about these stories. I hope Desmonte is captured and held accountable for his actions ASAP. All over a female? Senseless.
We gotta stop this. To kill people over something so minuscule is nothing short of a tragedy. These young black men need to learn how to channel their anger and start to value the human life more than they do.