Infignos Media - Police confirm 3 dead, 3 injured in Auburn shootings, video coverage part 1

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Police confirm 3 dead, 3 injured in Auburn shootings, video coverage part 1

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Auburn police chief Tommy Dawson confirmed Sunday that three people were killed and three were injured in a mass shooting Saturday night at an apartment complex. Two of the injured victims are expected to survive, but a third is fighting for his life at UAB Hospital, Dawson said. Dawson listed the names of the deceased as Ladarious Phillips, 20, Edward Christian, 20, and Demarco Pitts, 20. He confirmed the names of the injured as Xavier Moss, age 19, John Robertson, 20, and Eric Mack, 20. Moss was treated at East Alabama Medical Center and released, Mack is still in the hospital and John Robertson was in critical condition and undergoing surgery at the time of the press conference, Dawson said. Phillips and Christian, both shot to death, were former Auburn football players. Christian left the football team due to an injury. The Lee County Coroner pronounced Christian dead at the scene of the shooting. Pitts, the other fatality, was a 20-year-old Auburn resident. Coach Gene Chizik says he is "devastated" by the three men's deaths, including two he knew personally, Phillips and Christian]

Police got the report of a shooting at 10:03 p.m. Saturday, June 9, at the University Heights apartment complex, located less than two miles from Auburn University's campus.

The police chief said a fight broke out at a party at the apartment complex clubhouse. He would not confirm a motive for the shooting, but said at the press conference Sunday, "It was a fight that obviously someone got out of hand and shot and killed three people and critically injured another." A witness to the shooting stated that the gunfire broke out due to a fight over a female.

Investigators have identified a suspect in the shooting: Desmonte Leonard, 22, of Montgomery. Three capital murder warrants have been obtained against Leonard. Multiple law enforcement agencies are actively searching for Leonard in the Montgomery area.

Police say the shooter fled the scene in a vehicle with two other men. A vehicle believed to be the one driven by the suspect, a white Chevy Caprice, was discovered on Wire Road in Macon County. Leonard was last seen on foot.

Dawson says Leonard had no connection to Auburn University as far as he could tell. Leonard is considered armed and dangerous. Police are asking for the public's help in finding him. Anyone with information about Leonard's whereabouts is asked to call 911. "Hopefully we'll make an arrest sometime today," Dawson said. The police chief says there are also two persons of interest in the case, the men who fled the scene with Leonard, but did not identify either person. He said more arrests in the case are possible. In closing at the press conference, Chief Dawson said he is saddened by the tragedy and promised the city of Auburn's police division will do everything they can to bring the case to a close today. "This is very much an unusual event for the city of Auburn and AU. It's sickening that these young lives were cut short. And also, the shooter was such a young man. As a society we've got to learn the value of life again," Dawsone said. "If I could bring them back to their parents today, I would. To the families, please let it be known we're grieving with you," he said. According to Auburn police, the case is being investigated by the Auburn Police Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Marshal's Service, Lee County Coroner's Office, and the State Medical Examiner's Office. The Montgomery Police Department, Opelika Police Department, Lee County Sheriff's Office, and the Macon County Sheriff's Office are also assisting in the case. Counseling services for Auburn students affected by the incident are available, the University posted on their website Sunday.

Article by Pamela Bates

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Keywords: Auburn University, shooting, counseling, killed, LaDarious Phillips, Edward Christian, Demarco Pitts, Lee County,

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