Bryce Dejean-Jones, a guard with the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans, was shot and killed early this morning in Dallas, Texas. He was 23.
“It is with deep sadness that the Pelicans organization acknowledges the sudden passing of Bryce Dejean-Jones,” the basketball team said in a statement. “We are devastated at the loss of this young man’s life who had such a promising future ahead of him. Our thoughts and prayers are with Bryce’s family during this difficult time.”
According to a police report obtained by the Dallas Morning News, Dejean-Jones was shot after breaking into an apartment. He died later at the hospital.
Per the Dallas newspaper, Dejean-Jones allegedly “kicked open the front door” to a city apartment at 3:20 a.m., startling the man inside. Police say the man grabbed his handgun and “called out” but got no answer. That’s when Dejean-Jones kicked the bedroom door, and the man fired.
Dejean-Jones ran out of the apartment and “collapsed in the breezeway,” the cops purportedly stated in the report.
TheWrap was told by the Dallas Police Department that a Media Relations officer is not on duty until Monday morning, and no one there could confirm the specifics or provide the report in question.
Though the Dallas Morning News wrote that an autopsy has yet to be performed, ESPN, which spoke with Dejean-Jones’ agent, reports that the athlete died from a gunshot wound to the abdomen.
Dejean-Jones had joined the New Orleans squad as a free agent in 2015. He signed a three-year contract with the Pelicans in February after previous consecutive 10-day contracts. The guard started 11 of 14 games before undergoing surgery for a broken right wrist and missing the rest of the season. Dejean-Jones averaged 5.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 19.9 minutes over his run.
Before his unlikely pro career, the undrafted DeJean-Jones attended the University of Southern California and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas before transferring to Iowa State.