A rising college football star was fatally shot by a former college basketball player while visiting his Florida hometown for Mother’s Day this weekend, according to police.
Nathaniel Bernard Jennings, a football player for Minnesota’s University of Northwestern-St. Paul, was killed early Sunday morning near the Neon Rodeo bar in Melbourne, near Vernon Place and New Haven Avenue, according to Florida Today. According to police, Jennings had an argument with the suspect, Stephan Dieujuste, who briefly played basketball for Eastern Florida State College, prior to the fatal shooting.
Local authorities were dispatched to the popular nightclub around 1:50 a.m. to investigate reports of gunfire. When they arrived at the scene, Jennings was already unresponsive. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after, police said.
Matt Moore, head football coach at the University of Northwestern, praised Jennings, a defensive lineman, for his “contagious energy and positive will.”
“Nate was a valued member of our football team, earning all-conference honors after his first year of collegiate competition,” Moore said in a statement obtained by WESH. “For as gifted as Nate was on the football field, he was an even better person off it.
Dieujuste, who is charged with manslaughter, told investigators he was acting in self-defense when the shooting occurred, but few other details have been released. He is currently being held at the County Jail Complex in Sharpes.
Police have not said whether the two men, who graduated from Palm Bay’s Heritage High School and Bayside High School just a few years apart, knew each other.
The investigation into the incident is ongoing. It shows officers combing through surveillance video of the incident in downtown, which was crowded at the time with people and partygoers.
