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U of Miami Player Shot And Killed After Practice


The Gun Of Bavaria

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http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/story/6149138

U. of Miami player Pata killed, officials say

TIM REYNOLDS / Associated Press

University of Miami defensive end Bryan Pata was shot and killed Tuesday night, shortly after leaving the practice field, school officials said.

The circumstances around Pata's death were not immediately clear, and Miami-Dade police have not released specific information about what happened. A formal announcement was expected from the university later Tuesday.

"Right now, we're just gathering ourselves and just trying to pull ourselves together," Miami athletic director Paul Dee said.

Pata, a graduate of Miami Central, was in his fourth year with the Hurricanes. He appeared in 41 games, making 23 starts, and was expected to be selected in next spring's NFL draft.

It was the second incident involving guns this season for the Hurricanes.

In July, reserve safety Willie Cooper was shot in the buttocks when confronted in his yard before an early morning workout. Cooper was not seriously injured.

Brandon Meriweather, one of Cooper's teammates and roommates, returned fire at Cooper's assailant, taking three shots that apparently missed, police said.

Several Miami players, including Pata, said that incident was a robbery attempt, and cautioned other teammates to always be aware of their surroundings. "We're targets because we play for the University of Miami. ... These guys, they know who we are," Miami linebacker Jon Beason said shortly after the Cooper shooting. That incident prompted Miami coach Larry Coker to say that he did not want his players to have guns, even if they were possessing them legally.

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This from a poster i know who happens to work at abc news in Miami:

- Bryan Pata was shot and killed at the Colony apartments in Kendall.

- People are gathering at the Hecht center.... Grief counselors called in.

__________________

Police have not confirmed his identity ... but they are working on a drive by shooting...

A UM player which I will not reveal his name... has confirmed Pata was shot and killed.

I'm sorry.... initially police denied the incident... but now it's confirmed.... sorry

____________________________________

http://scout.scout.com/a.z?s=13&p=8&c=1&nid=2435709

So sad. he had his whole life in front of him. He was a good kid.

RIP

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This from a poster i know who happens to work at abc news in Miami:

- Bryan Pata was shot and killed at the Colony apartments in Kendall.

- People are gathering at the Hecht center.... Grief counselors called in.

__________________

Police have not confirmed his identity ... but they are working on a drive by shooting...

A UM player which I will not reveal his name... has confirmed Pata was shot and killed.

I'm sorry.... initially police denied the incident... but now it's confirmed.... sorry

____________________________________

http://scout.scout.com/a.z?s=13&p=8&c=1&nid=2435709

So sad. he had his whole life in front of him. He was a good kid.

RIP

Terrible news.

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http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15954033.htm

A season of tumult turned horrific Tuesday night when University of Miami defensive lineman Bryan Pata was shot and killed at an apartment complex in Kendall.

Several sources, including a close family friend and his high school football coach, confirmed reports of Pata's death.

''He was shot in the head,'' said Miami Central coach Anthony Saunders on Tuesday night. ``He is dead.''

The 6-4, 280-pound senior, who went to Miami Central High, was last seen on campus at football practice late Tuesday afternoon, just hours before the shooting.

''He was a great kid, a Christian,'' Saunders said. ``He had everything going for him. He was a role model and a motivator.''

Pata's aunt, Lavictore Pata, also confirmed the death.

''We were so proud of him,'' said his aunt, Lavictore Pata. ``He was a hard-working kid. He left behind three older sisters and four older brothers.''

____

I'm gonna hang at the canes board for awhile. Posters from schools all over the country are posting their condolences on the board. It's very comforting to see the genuine caring. There were close to 1000 people logged on a little while ago.

Very sad.

RIP

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http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15954033.htm

A season of tumult turned horrific Tuesday night when University of Miami defensive lineman Bryan Pata was shot and killed at an apartment complex in Kendall.

Several sources, including a close family friend and his high school football coach, confirmed reports of Pata's death.

''He was shot in the head,'' said Miami Central coach Anthony Saunders on Tuesday night. ``He is dead.''

The 6-4, 280-pound senior, who went to Miami Central High, was last seen on campus at football practice late Tuesday afternoon, just hours before the shooting.

''He was a great kid, a Christian,'' Saunders said. ``He had everything going for him. He was a role model and a motivator.''

Pata's aunt, Lavictore Pata, also confirmed the death.

''We were so proud of him,'' said his aunt, Lavictore Pata. ``He was a hard-working kid. He left behind three older sisters and four older brothers.''

____

I'm gonna hang at the canes board for awhile. Posters from schools all over the country are posting their condolences on the board. It's very comforting to see the genuine caring. There were close to 1000 people logged on a little while ago.

Very sad.

RIP

I was going to post a question. I won't.

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Thanks T-M

I remember seeing some of his family at a tailgate last year. Nice people.

Tragedy reduces football issues to instant insignificanceBY GREG COTE

gcote@MiamiHerald.com

Greg Cote's weblog | The Bryan Pata tragedy

The unacceptable ignominy of the University of Miami football team's 5-4 record stopped mattering Tuesday night as surely as a heart stopped beating. The tenuous future of unpopular coach Larry Coker ceased to be the least bit important, at least for a little while. The injury to quarterback Kyle Wright's thumb retreated to instant insignificance.

Hopefully, too, an agitated, jeering, dissatisfied Hurricanes Nation will pause and demand of itself today a moment of silence, or at least perspective, in this rancorous season. Just a moment, please?

Bryan Pata died.

Violently, by a bullet, inside his apartment in Kendall.

He was a UM defensive tackle, a senior, down to his last few college games, before somebody took even those away.

He was not a star. He was nobody's All-American. Nobody's future first-round draft pick. He was a solid pass-rusher who had led the team in quarterback pressures last year. He was a solid run-stopper who had selflessly switched positions from end to tackle before this season because the coaches asked him to. He had 11 career sacks, including two this year.

He was not a star, but he was tough, liked, admired. He was a leader. Just two weeks ago, late in a teetering game at Georgia Tech, the defender ran onto the field into UM's offensive huddle to exhort his teammates. He cared that much.

A SENSELESS DEATH

Pata died senselessly Tuesday night, for no good reason, as a disproportionate number of young African-American males seem to in Miami and other big cities. You might not even have heard about a death such as his, except he happened to be a college football player. He wore No. 95. Sometime he wore dreadlocks. He loved to tinker with and restore old cars. He had seven older siblings. He was a Miami kid who grew up at Central High.

He was going to get around to figuring out something to do with his life after football, until somebody with a gun decided none of that mattered all that much.

He was 22, too young to die under every circumstance imaginable.

Police had no motives, details or explanation for the crime Tuesday night. Pata, described as a Christian who didn't drink or party, deserves every assumption of his being an innocent victim.

The shame of this is that too many people nationwide are going to add this to the generic parade of ''UM football controversies.'' They will place this neatly in line right behind last month's brawl during the FIU game under the broad subhed, Hurricanes in the Headlines for the Wrong Reasons.

As if Pata brought it on himself.

As if Coker should have stopped it.

As if anyone but the man with the gun in his hand was to blame.

The tragic news broke across Miami Tuesday night, broke like hearts break, and it had to remind many of 10 years earlier, to April 13, 1996, when UM linebacker Marlin Barnes and his friend, Timwanika Lumpkins, were murdered in a campus apartment by her former boyfriend.

FOOTBALL INCIDENTAL

Football was peripheral then, too; incidental, as it was Tuesday night.

Death is never choosy. Doesn't play favorites. Doesn't care who you are. It will take John F. Kennedy Jr. in a small plane, Dale Earnhardt Sr. in a fast car, a homeless man beaten by bats, Sonny Bono on a ski slope, Bryan Pata in a Kendall apartment, or someone you will never hear of who just slipped in his bathtub and hasn't even been missed yet.

Death, though, overwhelms everything, every time, at least in the time when we force ourselves to bow heads, for just a moment, between the regular beat of life, between the cheering or the resumption of complaint.

In that moment, in a fleeting spasm of clarity, we understand that a 5-4 record is just what it is and not anything more: a disappointment.

We understand then that this UM football season didn't become a tragedy until a bullet erased Bryan Pata for no good reason at all.

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Mike, that really isnt a "bad" part of Miami. Kendall has become very congested over the years, but is still a residential area. It's not far from Dadeland, and I lived very close to that building when I was in law school. I cant picture exactly where it is, but I definitely remember passing by "The Colony" apts in my car many times.

From the ny times:

"Bryan Pata, a University of Miami defensive end, was shot and killed last night, shortly after leaving the practice field, university officials said.

...Miami-Dade P.O. Rutland confirmed that Pata had been shot outside his apartment complex in the Kendell area of Miami, about four miles from campus. The complex, known as Colony at Dadeland, is between the Dadeland Mall and U.S. 1 in what is considered a middle-class neighborhood.

“As far as I know, it’s not known as a high-violent-crime area,” Rutland said. “This appears to be an isolated incident. I can’t recall any other shootings in that area recently.”

_______________________________________________________________________________

There really is no guarantee that we will see tomorrow, so hug your kids today!

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In that part of town people dont care about people all they care about is money and they will do whatever they have to do to get it. No matter who is standing in the way. RIP Bryan Pata

Mike, that really isnt a "bad" part of Miami. Kendall has become very congested over the years, but is still a residential area. It's not far from Dadeland, and I lived very close to that building when I was in law school. I cant picture exactly where it is, but I definitely remember passing by "The Colony" apts in my car many times.

From the ny times:

"Bryan Pata, a University of Miami defensive end, was shot and killed last night, shortly after leaving the practice field, university officials said.

...Miami-Dade P.O. Rutland confirmed that Pata had been shot outside his apartment complex in the Kendell area of Miami, about four miles from campus. The complex, known as Colony at Dadeland, is between the Dadeland Mall and U.S. 1 in what is considered a middle-class neighborhood.

“As far as I know, it’s not known as a high-violent-crime area,” Rutland said. “This appears to be an isolated incident. I can’t recall any other shootings in that area recently.”

_______________________________________________________________________________

There really is no guarantee that we will see tomorrow, so hug your kids today!

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