Police: Vanderbilt Players Pull Pellet Gun to Recover Cell Phone, Get Shot with Real Gun

Vanderbilt football players shot after trying to recover team-mate's phone
Frederick Breedon/Getty Images

Police report that two Vanderbilt University football players were shot after a teammate pulled a pellet gun on two suspects, only to have the suspects pull real guns and open fire.

The incident occurred Monday night in the parking lot of a Target store in Nashville, Tennessee.

According to the Tennessean, “19-year-old sophomore wide receiver Donaven Tennyson had offered his iPhone 6S for sale on the internet.” He met with would-be buyers around 5 p.m. Monday, at which time his phone was allegedly stolen from him.

Tennyson told police the prospective buyers allegedly grabbed the phone and drove off without paying.

Later in the night, Tennyson spotted his phone for sale on the internet and arranged a meeting the sellers, presuming they were the same individuals who had allegedly stolen his phone. When he went to recover his phone he was accompanied by two teammates, O’montae (Tae) Daley and Frank Coppet, both of whom are 18-years old.

The three Vanderbilt players pulled up next to car of the individual advertising the phone and Tennyson got out with a pellet gun in his hand. When the two individuals in the other car saw the gun they opened fire—one fired a handgun and the other fired a shotgun. The gunfire left Daley and Coppet wounded and allowed the men suspected of stealing the phone to also drive away in the car the Vanderbilt players had used to travel to the parking lot.

The suspects have yet to be apprehended.

Vanderbilt University released a statement on the incident, which said, “Our foremost concern is the well being of our students, but it appears their injuries are not life-threatening. The university is monitoring the situation and will determine if any action on the part of the university is appropriate.”

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.