Police: 3 Southern Miss. Football Players Shot

HATTIESBURG, Miss. — Three University of Southern Mississippi football players were shot during a fight at a nightclub, and all three are in fair condition at a local hospital, police said Sunday.

Linebackers Martez Smith and Tim Green and defensive end Deddrick Jones were shot just after 1:30 a.m., Hattiesburg police spokesman Sgt. Allen Murray said.

No arrests have been made, and police did not comment on possible suspects. Murray said it's possible the shooting was gang-related.

Murray had previously said the fight happened at Remington's Hunt Club. He said the fight started inside the club, then spilled out into the parking lot, where the players were shot.

Club officials told The Hattiesburg American in October that they typically have 20 security staffers on duty on weekends, when crowds can swell to as many as 1,000.

The club's website – – shows numerous photos of scantily clad women at the club, many of which appear to be from bikini and dance contests. The interior is sprawling, with dining tables, pool tables and a stage. http://www.huntorbehunted.com

Smith, a 22-year-old, fifth-year senior, was the team's starting middle linebacker before a season-ending knee injury last month. Jones, a 23-year-old junior, has started all 10 games on the defensive line, making 26 tackles, including 3 1/2 for a loss. Green, a 21-year-old junior, has played in seven games as a backup, making four tackles.

The incident happened just hours after Southern Miss beat No. 25 Central Florida 31-21 in Orlando. Jones and Green played in the game.

"During this difficult time our thoughts and prayers are with these three members of our Southern Miss family, Martez, Tim and Deddrick, as well as their families," USM coach Larry Fedora said in a statement released by the school. "These three men are an integral part of the success of our football program, and we will continue to keep them in our hearts and hope for a speedy recovery."

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Associated Press writer Holbrook Mohr contributed to this report from Jackson.

Comments

[Califishing]

07:40 PM on 11/18/2010

Raise the price of bullets. Make them $50.00 a bullet and most of the shooting will go down. If people make their own it's jail for life.

[donia1970]

11:26 PM on 11/15/2010

ATTN: T ROLLS! To all of you who wish to call these young victims thugs - GTH. I ONCE went to a country club with my college roommate, and I never saw so much fighting in all of my life. Busting beer bottles over each other heads - breaking and throwing chairs - you name it.

WHAT DO YOU CALL THEM? Oh, that's right - my fault - they're the "good old boys!"

[Tmboy]

04:13 PM on 11/15/2010

Thug seems to be the new way to call a black athlete the n word. Nothing in this article says that they were part of the violence or instigated. For all we know they got caught in cross fire but because they are black, and were shot, they have to be thugs. Get a grip people.

[bgnthree]

04:18 PM on 11/15/2010

so now it will be the T word
This kids are fine kids. It was a gang banger who was too much of a ussy to man up. being a victim is no crime and no indication on the univesity they attend

[Mississippi Red]

03:09 PM on 11/15/2010

College ball is in such a bad way. The system/NCAA is corrupt and the system ensures that there are more losers than winners. Many (most?) of the players have no business and no interest in being in college. The coaches are under great pressure and many (most?) cheat and are corrupt. College presidents are under great pressure and many (most?) make highly questionable decisions. All to get money. The result is that it is very hard to respect an institution where the players, coaches, and college president are all openly corrupt while there isn't enough funding for basic classroon materials for the students. It almost seems as if universities exist for football and the students are becoming a secondary consideration. Its bullshit, but its not the players fault.

[Howard53545]

02:04 PM on 11/15/2010

Update, it has been reported that one of the USM players shot may be permanently paralyzed.

[Howard53545]

05:54 AM on 11/15/2010

USM under Saunders is going down down down. She hired a new coach Larry Fedora from Iowa State ?. He was in a big scandal there hanging out with and perhaps banging the coeds. He has recruited thugs to play at USM to justify his more than $500k salary. President Saunders of USM even gave him a $35k salary raise this year, apparently for his recruiting success. Saunders also fired lots of tenured professors.

[HOLLYHOOD]

08:59 AM on 11/15/2010

Why would you call student athletes thugs? Young people go to clubs all the time and get into fights. Maybe the guys that shot them may be thugs? Are you a thug?

[deltalady]

11:11 AM on 11/15/2010

I guess I'm just old, but if you're a football player in the middle of the season, don't you have a curfew or something? Not supposed to be drinking, smoking, etc? Duh...what was I thinking? There are 8 year olds now that don't have a set bedtime.

[parlimentMike]

03:28 AM on 11/15/2010

What kind of governor allows that kind of thuggery in a state sponsored institution?

[ladylove114]

09:47 AM on 11/15/2010

Of course, you are absolutely right. The Gov. has oversight and responsiblity for every ADULT university student in their state. And by the way, in case you did not read it correctly, those guys were the ones shot, not the ones doing the shooting.

[parlimentMike]

10:10 AM on 11/15/2010

Football players fighting in a bar, and then in the parking lot, it was probably about who had the best time in the 40 yard dash - I apologize to the scholar athletes, and the governor who isn't paying attention to who is getting recruited to represent his state.

[bgnthree]

09:42 PM on 11/15/2010

being a victim is not a crime

[Bloodwart]

10:30 PM on 11/14/2010

Southern Mississippi is Brett Favre's alma mater.

[local21]

09:42 PM on 11/14/2010

Cam Newton paid Southern Mississippi not to recruit him.

[johnnygoodwud]

09:41 PM on 11/14/2010

no curfew?

[BruntLIVE]

08:14 PM on 11/14/2010

will ESPN and foxsports report and investigate this like they are doing with cam newton?

[EricBishop]

08:48 PM on 11/14/2010

The investigation for "shot at night club" is usually more cut and dry than "solicited payment for amateur play". Also, "shot at night club" is practically as common as "high ankle sprain" for college football. I'm actually surprised that my ESPN fantasy league doesn't have a special abbreviation for "shot at night club". Also, this is Southern Miss. So, fewer people care about these kids and their program.

So, the answer to your question is no.

[bgnthree]

04:14 PM on 11/15/2010

Southern Miss is probably the top program in Miss. Do people care about Brett Favre?

[Belle Starr]

05:51 PM on 11/14/2010

What happened to an old-fashioned fist fight?

[ECB]

06:02 PM on 11/14/2010

Good question.

[allidoiswin]

01:38 AM on 11/15/2010

People can't fight anymore. And even if you do, fight it's always 1 vs 15.

[Howard53545]

05:48 PM on 11/14/2010

Bad school, Bad program, Bad president.

[bigpat]

10:26 AM on 11/15/2010

I disagree. It's a fine school.

[Howard53545]

05:48 PM on 11/14/2010

Martha Saunders is President of this terrible institution. She has her own private plane to fly around the sticks with, and now the sports program recruits lots of thug players with criminal records. I wonder why it took so long.

[bgnthree]

04:16 PM on 11/15/2010

This terrible institution is one of only 12 acreditted business schools in the south and has one of the top 2 polymer science program and marine bilogy programs in the nation. go away idiot

[Howard53545]

04:50 AM on 11/16/2010

So, but what about everything else, ha ha. Bad programs. Bad administrators. Your so called great university fires tenure faculty while your president flies around the nation in a plane costings money that could be used for programs and faculty. So get real dude!!! Your previous president was also bad news, and he is still on campus making big bucks.