Colorado Football Suspends Two After Pellet Gun Incident
The Colorado football program has suspended two of the eight players involved in an Airsoft pellet gun incident on Saturday night.
Freshman Jeffrey Thomas and junior DeVaughn Thornton, both wide receivers, were suspended for the first two games of the season, Coach Jon Embree announced.
Freshman linebacker Jermane Clark, who was also involved, is no longer with the team due to the incident as well as other family issues.
Eight Buffaloes players were in two cars (an Audi A6 and a BMW X5, in case you were wondering) that were pulled over by police late Saturday night, after witnesses saw a person in one of the cars pointing a gun at the other car and called the authorities.
According to the police report, the gun looked like a semi-automatic pistol but was actually a BB gun. Still, having it on hand at all, particularly in Colorado so soon after the shooting in Aurora, shows exceptionally poor judgment.
No arrests were made and none of the players were ticketed, but the police alerted the athletic department to the players’ involvement and all students were referred to student affairs.
Five other players in the cars at the time – Jered Bell, Keenan Canty, Joshua Moten, Paul Vigo, and Derrick Webb – were not disciplined because, according to Embree, they were just getting rides home.
The suspensions will make the Buffaloes’ receiving corps, already depleted due to injuries, perilously thin for the first two games of the season, Sept. 1 at Colorado State and at home on Sept. 8 against Sacramento State.
Thornton, especially, will be missed. Though he recorded just six catches for 69 yards in 2011, he played in all 13 games for the Buffaloes.
