Utah football player Aaron Lowe, 21, was shot dead on Sunday morning in Salt Lake City, local police confirmed. The Salt Lake City Police Department said the shooting took place at a home around three miles southeast of Rice-Eccles Stadium, Utah's home stadium, shortly after midnight.
Authorities haven't confirmed a suspect but a lot of questions are already been raised about Lowe's mysterious death. This is because Lowe's death comes less than a year after teammate and friend Ty Jordan was killed in a similar accidental shooting. Another person was also shot in the incident, who remains critical at a local hospital, police confirmed.
Mysterious Shooting
Salt Lake police are treating Lowe's death as an accidental shooting as of now although investigation is still on. They are yet to make any arrests also although a manhunt has been launched. The killing happened at house party and police say an unidentified female was critically injured in the shooting.
Police said they first received a call at 10:30 pm on Saturday about a noise complaint for the house party. They then got a second call at 12:20 am on Sunday. This time it was about a fight involving a weapon but they didn't know Lowe was part of the group. According to reports, Lowe died on the scene and when police reached they found him lying in a pool of blood.
"We are devastated to hear about the passing of Aaron Lowe," Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Aaron's family and friends, along with the other individual who was harmed in this tragic incident. Aaron was a great teammate, friend, brother and son and was loved by anyone who crossed paths with him. He will be deeply missed."
Gone Too Soon
Lowe's death comes less than a year after his friend and teammate Ty Jordan was killed in a similar fashion in what police at that time said was an accidental shooting. Jordan was killed in December last year.
Interestingly, Lowe was attending Utah on a scholarship named after Jordan. The defensive back was in his third season at Utah and appeared in each of the Utes' first four games this season, including Utah's win on Saturday over Washington State.
However, he died just a few hours later. "I am deeply saddened by the shooting death of Aaron Lowe," police chief Mike Brown said in a statement.
"This talented young man touched the lives of so many here in Salt Lake City and in Texas. The Salt Lake City Police Department grieves with and offers our condolences to the Lowe family and the University of Utah community. Our condolences also extend to the other person injured in this shooting. I hope for their quick recovery. These investigations are complex. Our detectives have been hard at work trying to identify the suspect or suspects in this case."
Jordan and Lowe were high school teammates in Mesquite and were the best of friends. In fact, Lowe persuaded Jordan to play at Utah after he had decommitted from the school. After Jordan died, Lowe switched his jersey number from No. 2 to No. 22 to honor his friend. Lowe is survived by his parents, three brothers and a sister.
