Image by Getty Images via @daylifeA co-defendant in Michael Vick's dogfighting case whom the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback was barred from associating with was shot late Thursday night outside a club that had been hosting a birthday party for
Vick, who turns 30 on Saturday, was neither involved nor present at a Virginia Beach, Va., nightclub when Quanis Phillips was shot, Larry Woodward, an attorney for Vick, said Friday, according to The Associated Press.
Vick was prohibited from associating with Phillips as a condition of his release on probation stemming from a dogfighting conviction and resulting 18-month federal prison sentence.
"We are aware of the incident that occurred in Virginia early this morning and are in the process of gathering all of the facts," the Eagles said in a statement. "Until then, we will not have any comment on this matter."
The Virginia Beach police said Vick is "of no interest to us" as police investigate, the Philadelphia Daily News reported.
According to spokesman Adam Bernstein, the Virginia Beach police received a 911 call from a cell phone at 2:11 a.m. ET. An unnamed person reported hearing a verbal dispute and a subsequent gunshot in Virginia Beach's Town Center section.
Officers responded to the scene at the 4600 block of Columbus Street, according to the Daily News, and were told a shooting victim was being driven to the hospital in a car the police later stopped.
The officers reported the victim and other witnesses as "very uncooperative," but they did describe the shooter as a black man in a white Cadillac Escalade.
Bernstein said a man sustained non-life-threatening injuries in the shooting at around 2 a.m. outside the club Guadalajara.
Phillips, who was sentenced to 21 months in prison for his role in the dogfighting operation, was admitted to Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital overnight, health system spokesman Dale Gauding said. He was discharged early Friday afternoon. Gauding said he was not able to discuss the nature of Phillips' injuries because of privacy laws.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league is looking into the shooting.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell reinstated Vick after he was suspended for two years last July and said at the time that Vick's margin for error would be "extremely limited."
Vick played sparingly last season but was expected to take on a larger role this year after the team traded starter Donovan McNabb in the offseason. The team picked up an option and is to pay Vick $5.2 million this year.
Vick is also still on three years' probation in the federal case and on a three-year suspended sentence for a state dogfighting conviction. He is not allowed to associate with anyone convicted of a felony unless granted permission to do so by his probation officer.
It is unclear whether Phillips was invited to the party, which was hyped on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter as "Michael Vick's ALL WHITE 30th Birthday Bash."
Tickets cost $50, and the party was advertised as beginning at 9 p.m and ending at 2 a.m while promising a guest list that included NBA star Allen Iverson and Washington Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall, both natives of the area, and a host of B-list celebrities.
Hall said via his Twitter feed on Friday that he was not at the party.
Vick, who is holding a football camp at Hampton University this week, was on the field working with campers Friday afternoon, along with former Atlanta teammate Roddy White.
White said he and Vick had already left the party when the shooting took place.
At the football camp, Vick was asked by a reporter Friday afternoon whether he had any comment on the incident.
"Watch what you do. Pick and choose your friends carefully. You just can't put yourself in vulnerable situations," Vick said.
On Thursday, Vick told reporters that he tells campers the truth when they ask about his previous troubles "because I don't want them to follow in my footsteps. ... I want them to walk a straight path, do all the things right, and just live a good life, and be happy."
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
2 comments:
Vick is having a hard time scrambling away from trouble off the field.
Vick is like a Hitler to pits. This man gots a concentration camp for dogs. If I was Michael Vick my cousin wouldn't be living at my house anymore for telling. It doesn't make it right, but he wouldn't be getting any money from me.
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