CRF football players killed in Opa-locka, say cops

Two football players from Florida International University, who visited friends in Opa-locka on Thursday afternoon, were shot and wounded in a car shootout.

Players Anthony Jones and offensive offensive lineman Mershawn Miller were both transported to the Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital. Jones was flown. Miller was taken in an ambulance. Injuries do not seem to be life-threatening, said Opa-locka police chief James Dobson.

Jones was hit in the face and back. Miller was shot in the arm. The shooting took place just after 3 pm just outside of a house at 2400 NW 141st St.

"Someone has passed and started shooting from a vehicle," Dobson said.

Dobson said the police were looking for a new model, the Nissan Sentra 4-door, gray, unlabeled. He added that the detectives at the hospital had not been able to speak with the victims of the shootings in the late afternoon. They were both stable and aware, Dobson said. He added that the police were also talking to people from the neighborhood and were looking for video surveillance that could have captured part of the incident.

The FIU issued a brief statement immediately after the shooting, stating that his thoughts and prayers were with the families.

Jones, who missed the 2017 season with a knee injury, racked up 88 yards and scored two touchdowns in the defeat of the Panthers' opening season against Indiana last weekend. He ran for 805 yards on 164 runs in his first two seasons at the FIU after a senior all-state season for the Miami Central National Team. Getting Jones, a top player, was considered a hit for the Panthers at the time.

Jones and the former hope of Florida, Dalvin Cook, now with the Minnesota Vikings, were raised together. Although Cook is older than Jones and Jones has arrived in Central, Jones is Cook's uncle.

Miller, a three-star rookie from Central who was absent last season as a red shirt, played his first game on Saturday.

In 2006, Bryan Pata, another former Miami Central star, was shot and killed outside his apartment complex. Pata was a highly regarded defensive lineman with the University of Miami when he was killed. It was supposed to be a high NFL draft pick. This murder remains unresolved.