MU athlete shot downtown

By Juana Summers

Published July 11, 2007

DeMarre Carroll, a junior forward on the men's basketball team, was one of two victims in a shooting the morning of July 5, according to the MU athletic department.

A department news release stated Carroll was shot in the ankle, treated at an area hospital and released later that day.

Police received a call at 1:30 a.m. and were dispatched to the Tropicana Bar, located at 808 Cherry St.

"It appears that for whatever reason, a couple of individuals started having words and it got heated," Columbia Police Department Capt. Brad Nelson said. "A suspect pulled out a handgun and started shooting."

Nelson said 17 police officers responded to the incident. The victims voluntarily presented themselves to police and were identified.

"It wasn't just something random," Nelson said. "It appears that these people were the targets, unfortunately."

No suspect has been taken into custody.

Carroll transferred to MU from Vanderbilt during the summer of 2007 after two years playing for the Vanderbilt team. In his sophomore season with Vanderbilt, Carroll led the Commodores in rebounding 10 times. Carroll was a redshirt at MU his junior year and has been expected to be a key part of the Tigers' team in 2007.

"With this being an open investigation, there is a lot of information that we don't know at this point in time and certainly can't comment about," coach Mike Anderson stated in a news release. "Our main concern is for the safety of the victims involved, including DeMarre, but it sounds like everyone is going to be fine."

The athletic department declined further comment, as there is an open investigation.