Four people were arrested in connection with the shooting of Florida State linebacker Ethan Pritchard that left him in critical but stable condition in a Florida hospital.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement announced that they had arrested Carson Miller, 18; Germany Atkins, 23; Jayden Bodison, 22; and a 16-year-old juvenile in relation to the Aug. 31 shooting.
Miller, Bodison and the juvenile were charged with three counts of attempted murder and one count of shooting into an occupied vehicle. Atkinson was charged with one count of probation violation.
Police made the arrests of the three adult suspects after executing search warrants in the towns of Havana and Woodville.
The juvenile turned himself in at the Gadsden County Sheriff’s Office.
During a Wednesday news conference, Gadsden County Sheriff Morris Young told reporters that Pitchard was doing “absolutely nothing wrong” when he was shot in the back of the head as he was dropping off an aunt and a child, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.
Young also said Pritchard was in “the wrong place at the wrong time” and that it was believed that the four suspects were involved in the Aug. 25 shooting of Marcus Harris, which had occurred at the Havana Heights Apartments — the same location where Pritchard was shot.
“We believe in this investigation that it was a mistaken identity. I mentioned the first shooting when Marcus Harris was a victim on Tuesday, the 25th, we believe that the same type of car that Ethan was driving was involved in that shooting,” Young said.
“We don’t know that for a fact, but that’s the reason why they were sort of humming in on that particular vehicle. … I can say that Ethan was totally, totally nowhere near involved in this incident.”
Pritchard, a freshman, has missed the first two games of the season for Florida State, which has defeated Alabama and East Texas A&M.
Pritchard’s father, Earl, attended last Saturday’s game at Doak S. Campbell Stadium, joining the team on the sideline and in the locker room.
FSU head coach Mike Norvell told reporters on Saturday that Pritchard “absolutely loves” football.
“To know that right now that’s taken away from him in a senseless act … you don’t always know why you have to go through things in life,” Norvell said. “You don’t understand the reasoning. But I do believe that God has his hand over Ethan and this football team and just all the relationships.”
