Georgia football star shot multiple times while working out in a park, police say
.jpg "The linebacker was transported to the hospital after being shot in the back and the shoulder, according to media outlets.")
A University of Georgia football signee was shot while working out in a park, police told news outlets, and he wasn’t the only victim.
The shooting happened Feb. 21 around 6:30 p.m. at Seaboard Side Park in Fitzgerald, Georgia, police told WALB. Linebacker E.J. Lightsey was transported to Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany, Georgia, WALB reported, and was in fair condition. A second victim, a 37-year-old man, is in critical condition.
Lightsey was shot in the shoulder and back, Fitzgerald Police Chief William Smallwood Jr. told ESPN, and he is expected to recover.
“I can’t tell you exactly what happened because we’ve got so many different stories and versions of it. We’re trying to piece it together right now,” Smallwood told ESPN.
Police are working with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to examine the scene and believe that the shooting was gang-related, according to WALB. A gun was found at the scene, but no information about the gun, or who it belonged to, was provided, WALB reported.
It is likely that Lightsey was an uninvolved bystander, Maj. James Reynolds of the Fitzgerald Police Department told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Lightsey told police he was in the park working out at the time, CBS46 reported.
“Wrong place, wrong time. Got caught up in the crossfire,” Reynolds told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Lightsey’s relatives spoke to a detective after the shooting and said that he was alert and doing OK, according to ESPN. No arrests have been made in connection with the shooting.
Lightsey helped bring home Fitzgerald’s Class 2A State Championship this season, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He is a three-star prospect and ranked the No. 44 linebacker in the county by 247Sports.
Fitzgerald is about 180 miles southeast of Atlanta.
This story was originally published February 23, 2022 at 1:03 PM with the headline "Georgia football star shot multiple times while working out in a park, police say."
