Oct 18, 2009 7:00 am US/Pacific
UConn Football Player Stabbed To Death
Jasper Howard Was Going To Be A Father
STORRS, Conn. (CBS) ―
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Jasper Howard, a University of Connecticut football player, died following an on-campus stabbing, hours after the team's victory over Louisville. (File)
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A University of Connecticut football player has died following an on-campus stabbing, hours after the team's victory over Louisville.
Twenty-year-old Jasper Howard of Miami, a junior and starting cornerback, was stabbed during a fight early Sunday. His death was confirmed to The Associated Press by an administration official who requested anonymity because of the police investigation.
Major Ronald Blicher of the UConn Police says investigators have leads but have not identified a suspect in Howard's killing. He said this is the first homicide at the university in the over 30 years he has been associated with the school.
Blicher said Howard was stabbed following a fight between two groups that included students and non-students, which broke out just after a fire alarm went off in the student center, forcing the evacuation of about 300 people. Police had cordoned off the crime scene near the university's Gampel Pavilion basketball arena.
"Certainly not all 300 saw this event," Blicher said. "We have been actively interviewing people through the night and day, and we continue to seek anybody who might have information."
Police were trying to determine whether the alarm and the fight were related. About 40 officers from the UConn police and state police major crime squad were working on the case.
Howard and the other student who was stabbed were taken by ambulance to Windham Community Memorial Hospital, where the other victim was treated and released. Howard was later airlifted by helicopter to Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford, where he died from his injuries.
UConn coach Randy Edsall says his team is heartbroken, devastated and upset over the death of Jasper Howard.
Edsall, who had to identify Howard's body, says the cornerback was going to be a father. Team captain and punter Desi Cullen says his teammates will make sure the child will have over 100 uncles.
Edsall drove to the hospital Sunday morning and was asked to identify Howard's body.
"One of my sons has been taken away," the coach said.
Edsall says the team plans to play next Saturday at West Virginia.
Howard led the Big East in punt returns last season and recovered a fumble in UConn 38-25 victory Saturday over Louisville.
Howard graduated from Miami Edison Senior High School. According to the university's Web site Howard averaged 11.8 yards per punt return to lead the Big East and was 24th in the country in that category. His 306 punt return yards was sixth in school single-season history, the school Web site said.
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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