Posted on 10/01/2005 10:44:31 PM PDT by SmithL
Cal football coach Jeff Tedford told reporters this week that his team has been "very cooperative all along'' with the police investigation into the July 17 early-morning shooting death of Dartmouth student Meleia Willis-Starbuck.
But law enforcement sources say that doesn't tell the whole story.
In the weeks following the shooting near the UC Berkeley campus, police were quietly pursuing reports that a second person had been grazed by a bullet that night as well.
That person turned out to be Cal freshman football player Gary Doxy, who was with a group of players on that fateful night. In fact, he was among half dozen or so Cal players and their friends who have since been identified as possible witnesses to the killing.
But in Doxy's case, according to law enforcement sources, it took Berkeley police investigators weeks to finally identify and interview him -- in no small part because nobody stepped forward from the team or university to name the player until the detectives came knocking on the door.
"I don't think the coaches told Doxy not to come forward,'' said one source close to the case, who like others we interviewed did not want to be quoted by name because of the ongoing investigation and sensitivity of the issue.
"But they didn't tell him to come forward, or to tell police that he was injured.''
Coach Tedford told the Oakland Tribune that he was "fully aware'' from the outset that certain players had been down on College Avenue the night the shooting took place there. Police believe Willis-Starbuck and some friends had argued with a group of men who called them "bitches," and that Willis-Starbuck called her friend Christopher Hollis -- the suspected shooter -- to the scene for help.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
So it appears it was Cal football players who initiated the fracas by calling the young ladies bitches. The soon to be dead woman calls a couple of male buddies for help, one of whom proceeds to accidentally shoot the young lady while attempting to blow away the football players. One of the plaers is nicked by a bullet but he claims he didn't know it- although he goes to his coach and tells him he has this mysterious cut that suddenly appeared on his arm.The coach and the administration then proceed to cover it up. Then the school spokesman takes umbrage when it all starts to come out. Wow!
Like the weekend they have to play USC.
Not that I would want to damage Cal Football or anything. Just trying to see justice done (and USC win).
You get a zero for reading comprehension. Your summary is 180 degrees off what happened. The football players and some others were called down to help the young lady in distress. They did not initiate the fracas. The suspected shooter is a friend of the victim and is not a football player.
Perhaps this quote from the District attorney will help you:
Alameda County Deputy District Attorney Carrie Panetta, the lead prosecutor, also declined to comment, saying only that "none of them (the players) are suspects in any criminal wrongdoing.''
"So it appears it was Cal football players who initiated the fracas by calling the young ladies bitches."
I don't think the Cal players initiated anything. They may have called the girls names but it appears that the dead woman initiated the events that lead to her death by calling a friend who she knew was armed and would being firing a weapon when he arrived.
Assuming facts not in evidence is risky business even outside of a courtroom.
The actual role of the football players has not been adequately defined, but the assumptions that you made are the same as the ones I made. When the truth comes out, you may say "I told you so".
http://www.dartreview.com/archives/2005/08/26/willisstarbuck_07_killed_in_berkeley.php
Willis-Starbuck ‘07 Killed in Berkeley
August 26, 2005
(snip)
The events of that fateful July 17 morning, once understood only in the haziest of terms, have in the past few weeks become clearer. Willis-Starbuck and several friends were outside her apartment building in the student area of Berkeley, where she was staying for the summer. Outside her apartment, Willis-Starbuck’s group of friends and another group of youths, male students at the University of California (some news reports have suggested the group was comprised of Cal football players), erupted into argument, though some witnesses, friends of Willis-Starbuck, would later say the brouhaha “didn’t escalate at all.” Members of the other group, being rebuffed in flirting with the group of women, began referring to Willis-Starbuck and her friends as “b*tches”; Willis-Starbuck proceeded to ask the youths if they would say such words to their mothers’ faces. An argument began between the two groups. At some point during the argument, Willis-Starbuck called her friend Christopher Hollis and asked him to “bring the heat,” meaning a gun. Presumably, Willis-Starbuck intended to threaten, or at least scare off, the opposing group of young men.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/09/27/BAG4OEU9T71.DTL
Victim argued with Cal players
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
A 19-year-old Dartmouth College student shot and killed near UC Berkeley had been arguing with members of Cal's nationally ranked football team, and one of the players was grazed on the wrist by a bullet in the incident, sources familiar with the case told the Chronicle on Monday.
why do you think she called her friend? I don't imagine she was calling him to hurry over and talk with the young men who had offended her.
If you have a friend who is packing you know they are packing. Showing off your iron is part of playing the role.
Thanks for the added info. The article at the head of this post did not say the Cal players were involved in the initial name calling.
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