North Carolina Central freshman defensive back Trevor VanDyke was shot and killed on Monday night, a family member has confirmed to WRAL.
VanDyke was shot shortly after 9:30 p.m. on Monday night in Durham, N.C., where NCCU is located. North Carolina Central is a HBCU that competes in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference of FCS.
A native of Clayton, N.C., VanDyke was 20 years old.
“He just got here,” VanDyke’s cousin Robert Moore told the Raleigh News & Observer.
“He didn’t know anybody up here but the football team,” Moore said. “(He was) somebody that’s not in the streets, don’t smoke, don’t do any of that. He was strictly sports.”
“Our community has been shaken by the sudden and tragic death of one of our first-year students,” NCCU said in a statement. “The young Eagle’s untimely passing is difficult for all of us. We would ask that you place Mr. VanDyke’s family, classmates and friends in your thoughts and prayers,” the chancellor of NCCU wrote in a message to students.”
A campus vigil is scheduled for 8 p.m. local time on Tuesday night.
Police do not believe the shooting to be random, and the local ABC affiliate reported officers entered the apartment complex near where VanDyke was shot with their guns drawn early Tuesday morning. “The investigation is active and investigators are following leads,” Durham police stated.
“We lost a great young man last night.,” NCCU head coach Trei Oliver said. “We prayed together. We talked about it’s going to hurt and it’s going to be a tough process to get through it, but we’re going to have to just lean on each other. We’ll get through it, it’s going to be tough, but with prayer and guys leaning on each other we’ll be able to get through it.”
