Corey Ballentine, whom the Giants selected in the sixth round of the 2019 draft yesterday, was shot in central Topeka just hours later, per Erika Hall of WIBW.com. Ballentine, a cornerback from Washburn, is expected to make a full recovery, and he could recover in a matter of weeks, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.
Officers responded to reports of gunshots around 12:45am. Ballentine and Dwane Simmons, another Washburn football player, were both shot, but while Ballentine suffered non-life-threatening injuries, Simmons, 23, passed away in the street. Ballentine was taken to an area hospital.
The Giants have released the following statement (via Paul Schwartz of the New York Post on Twitter):
“We are aware of the tragic situation and continue to gather information. We have spoken to Corey, and he is recovering in the hospital. Our thoughts are with Dwane Simmons’ family, friends and teammates and the rest of the Washburn community.”
Tyler Greever of WIBW says that Ballentine was very close to Simmons, and that Ballentine was supposed to discuss being selected by the Giants at 3pm today (Twitter links). Obviously, the interview has been postponed.
Ballentine has the athletic ability to eventually compete for a significant role in the Giants’ defensive backfield, and hopefully he will be able to bounce back from this tragic turn to the start of his professional career.
We here at PFR offer our condolences to Simmons’ friends and family.
What the Hell? Bad crowd or just wrong place?
Yes
What about his team mate that died ..
What do you mean? They offered their condolences
Are you about compassion or something? This is the NFL here.
Oh my. Prayers from a Niners fan sent. Tragic.
NFL will teach him to carry a weapon illegally as most do. He will at least defend himself. We know they never obtain them legally. To much work
We’re talking NY/NJ here, states that hate guns in the hands of citizens.
Right, because guns are bad. The end.
Lol . Guns were sure helpful when I was in iraq..and believe it or not the guns only fired when my guys pulled the trigger…the guns never got up and fired on their own..as crazy as that sounds.