WVU player stabbed in fight, dismissed from team

WVU defensive lineman Tyree Owens runs through a drill during practice in Morgantown, W.Va. The redshirt freshman was stabbed in a weekend altercation and later dismissed from the program for violating team rules.

 

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia redshirt freshman Tyree Owens was among three stabbing victims this weekend during a downtown altercation.

The team announced late Monday afternoon that Owens, a 19-year-old defensive end, was no longer a part of the program “due to a violation of team rules.”

Police arrested an Alderson Broaddus University basketball player, 22-year-old Devin Colston of Baltimore, on multiple felony charges of malicious wounding. Colston was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals and Morgantown police Monday afternoon in Philippi.

“Mr. Colston is in custody because he committed the most serious offense. He’s the one that actually cut and stabbed the three individuals who ended up going to the hospital for treatment,” said Morgantown police chief Ed Preston.

Just after midnight Sunday, police discovered three men at the intersection of High and Wall streets with stab wounds described as non life-threatening.

The altercation occurred about five hours after West Virginia defeated Liberty 41-17. Owens did not appear in the game.

The other stabbing victims were identified as walk-on running back Kenyatta Greene, 19, of Beverly, N.J., and Jamal Calay, 20, of Silver Spring, Md.

Greene also was dismissed from the team, said West Virginia sports information director Michael Fragale.

Police worked with downtown business owners to retrieve surveillance video from the fight and scoured social media postings of video from witnesses.

“That helped us to get to this point within 48 hours, a suspect in custody, after being identified and going to another county to apprehend him,” Preston said.

Owens was rated a three-star prospect in the 2014 signing class. He chose WVU over 20 offers including Duke, Georgia Tech, Virginia, Wisconsin, Boston College, N.C. State and Cincinnati.

In a statement, the WVU athletics department noted: “We are appreciative of the efforts of the Morgantown Police Department, and thankful that those identified will make a full recovery.”

 





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