According to USA Today, Roy was hit by a random shot outside a house near Los Angeles as he was shielding children. He reportedly was treated there and has returned to Washington.
Was the Brandon Roy who got shot in Compton on Saturday the same Brandon Roy as the former UW standout and NBA All-Star who now coaches the Nathan Hale boys’ basketball team?
At least three Hale players have disputed news stories that surfaced Tuesday night reporting that their coach was hit by random gunfire on Saturday night while shielding some children outside his grandmother’s home in Compton, Calif.
“The allegations are false. Coach Brandon Roy is fine,” senior guard Kateel Barnett wrote in an email to The Seattle Times Wednesday afternoon.
When asked in a follow up email whether he had spoken to Roy since Saturday, Barnett wrote, “Yes. He’s informed me he’s completely fine.”
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Barnett did not respond to further requests for a phone interview, saying only that he wanted to seek his coach’s permission first.
However, Barnett’s assertion that Roy was not the person who was shot on Saturday is similar to assertions tweeted by his teammates P.J. Fuller and MarJon Beauchamp.
Fuller, a starting guard for Nathan Hale, tweeted “lie again” on Tuesday night in response to a KING 5 tweet about Roy getting shot. That tweet has since been deleted.
Beauchamp, a freshman guard, also, on Tuesday night retweeted the KING 5 report about Roy with the comment, “It is wrong.” But his tweet was also deleted sometime on Wednesday afternoon.
It is wrong‼️ https://t.co/M3zcJdNgKL
— MarJon Beauchamp (@Marjon32) May 3, 2017
Nathan Hale athletic director Darby Haskins referred all inquiries about Roy’s reported shooting to the Seattle Public Schools’ communications team.
When asked Wednesday afternoon if he could confirm whether Hale’s basketball coach was the person injured in the Compton shooting, Luke Duecy, a Seattle Public Schools communications specialist said: “We are aware of the rumors and speculations, and we’re looking into it.”
KING 5 broke the story of the shooting late Tuesday night, and USA Today’s Sam Amick also wrote a similar story. Amick stated that Roy was shot in the leg.
Sgt. Rick Mejia of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s office confirmed Wednesday morning that a man named Brandon Roy was shot in an incident that occurred on the 2000 block of Nestor Ave. in Compton, and said it “appears” that the Roy who was shot is the NBA All-Star, but added, “there’s no way we can confirm that because we don’t ask those questions.”
Mejia said Roy was one of four victims who were injured by gunfire from two men.
“Mr. Roy and three other black males were standing there when two male blacks shot in their direction, striking all four,” Mejia said. “None were life-threatening injuries. I know all four were shot and transported to a local hospital.”
Mejia said no arrest has been made in the case yet, and that the police report – which would include the victims’ dates of birth — is not yet available to the public. The case is considered an open investigation and is being handled by the sheriff department’s gang investigation unit even though Mejia says the department has yet to determine whether it is actually gang-related.
KING 5 reported that Roy was treated in Southern California and has returned to Washington. According to KING 5, Roy was standing next to his 6-year-old niece, and he “put her in a bear hug and took her to the ground.” KING 5 also reports that Roy was shot in the hamstring and butt.
The Portland Trail Blazers, with whom Roy played for five seasons, issued a statement late Tuesday night.
“Like many others, we’re just learning of the injury suffered by former Trail Blazers player Brandon Roy in a shooting over the weekend in California,” the Blazers’ statement read. “According to those reports, Brandon was wounded as a bystander, but is expected to recover. Our thoughts and prayers are with Brandon and his family during this time.”
Roy could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.