Four suspects have been arrested in connection with the Aug. 31 shooting of a Florida State football player who remains in critical condition.
Freshman linebacker Ethan Pritchard was shot in his vehicle outside of an apartment complex in Havana, Fla., about 15 miles from the Tallahassee campus. Two family members, including a child, were also in the car at the time.
On Wednesday, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement announced the arrests of Caron Miller, 18; Jayden Bodison, 22; and Germany Atkins, 23. A fourth suspect, a 16-year-old juvenile whose name was withheld, turned himself in to the Gadsden County Sheriff’s Office.
FDLE commissioner Mark Glass said Pritchard “was not doing anything wrong” at the time of the shooting.
Gadsden County Sheriff Morris Young said authorities believe it was a case of mistaken identity.
Bodison, Miller and the juvenile were charged with three counts of attempted murder and one count of shooting into an occupied vehicle. Atkins was arrested on a charge of violating his probation.
Pritchard’s father, Earl, told reporters that his son was shot in the back of the head. He remains in critical but stable condition at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital.
“I recruited him for years, got a chance to watch him grow,” Seminoles coach Mike Norvell said Saturday. “The way that he plays the game, it’s a passion, energy. He loves it, absolutely loves it.
“To know that right now that’s taken away from him in a senseless act … you don’t always know why you have to go through things in life. You don’t understand the reasoning. But I do believe that God has his hand over Ethan and this football team and just all the relationships.”
The 247Sports composite rankings listed Pritchard as a three-star recruit in the 2025 class. He played at Seminole High School in Sanford, Fla.
Pritchard did not play in Florida State’s season-opening upset over No. 8 Alabama, which took place the day before the shooting.
–Field Level Media
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