Pro football player Jordan Jones was shot and killed while trying to break up a fight outside a bar in Acworth, Georgia. The 28-year-old athlete had stepped in to stop a violent situation, but sadly, the night ended in gunfire.
What started as a normal night out in Georgia quickly turned into a heartbreaking tragedy that has left the football community stunned.
Jones, 28, was reportedly trying to break up a fight outside the bar after seeing a man assault a woman. After Jones calmed down the situation, 25-year-old Daniel Di Vonne Parsons allegedly shot him in the parking lot.
The Acworth Police Department arrived on the scene around 2:40 a.m. Saturday and found Jones suffering from the gunshot wound.
They rushed him to local Wellstar Kennestone Hospital, where he later died from his injuries.
Parsons is charged with murder, aggravated assault and aggravated battery.
“This remains an active and ongoing investigation, and no additional details are available at this time,” the police department said in a statement.
This is what Jordan’s family and friends had to say about him following his untimely demise.
“It kind of feels like a nightmare that I’m just kind of waiting to wake up from,” Jalen Virgil, Jones’ longtime friend, told Fox 5 Atlanta.
“He was a hero. He was a gentle giant. He lit up the room when he walked in,” added K’Maron Patterson, another of Jones’ friends. “He was a big guy, so you knew if anybody needed help, he was going to be the one to step in.”
Teammates say Jones was gentle. He was the type of player who protected his teammates on the field and the type of person who looked out for others off it, which makes this tragedy even harder to accept.
Jones didn’t lose his life during a football game; he didn’t lose it in some reckless situation either: he lost it trying to stop violence and protect someone else.
Now the community mourns a young athlete whose life was cut short while doing something many are now calling heroic.
