Authorities said a former University of Alabama basketball player was arrested in connection with a fatal shootout near campus on Sunday night.
The Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Office said Darius Hairston Miles, 21, of Washington, D.C., was one of two men arrested after people exchanged gunfire in vehicles just off the Strip, Tuscaloosa’s campus-adjacent nightlife district.
He was arrested on suspicion of murder and was being held without bail, according to the office. It was Jamea Jonae Harris, 23, who was killed.
The other parties were not associated with the institution. It was unclear if Miles had hired private counsel for the case. The Tuscaloosa Public Defender’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Alabama Athletics expressed its condolences to the victim’s family and friends on Sunday, and announced that Miles would no longer be a member of the team.
Miles’ name was not on the university’s basketball roster as of late Sunday. “He has been removed from our campus,” the university said in a statement.
Miles, a junior forward, was ruled out for the rest of the season by the basketball programme on Saturday after aggravating a preseason injury.
It was unclear whether Miles was still a student or whether the institution could evict him without a formal process. The sheriff’s statement addressed his university status in the past tense.
The shooting occurred early Sunday morning in the nightlife district. Sheriff’s officials did not say which of the two suspects opened fire, or whether they believe both did.
“At this time, it appears that the shooting was the result of a minor argument between the victims and suspects after they encountered each other along the strip,” said the sheriff’s office.
A driver approached a University of Alabama Police vehicle near the Walk of Champions at Bryant-Denny Stadium shortly before 2 a.m. to report that a passenger, still inside, had been fatally shot, according to the office.
According to the report, the driver told investigators that someone in another vehicle opened fire on his vehicle just off the Strip, and he returned fire, potentially injuring someone in the opposing vehicle.
The Sheriff’s Violent Crimes Unit detectives tracked down two suspects after speaking with witnesses and reviewing security footage, according to the office.
The shootout injured one of the two suspects, according to the office, which did not specify which one or whether he was hospitalised.
Michael Lynn Davis, 20, of Charles County, Maryland, was identified as the other suspect, who was also arrested on a capital murder charge.
The university stated that it is assisting the investigation.
Members of the campus community who have been affected by the violence can speak with campus counsellors, even on Monday’s Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, according to the university’s statement.
