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SALT LAKE CITY — Two University of Utah football players were recovering from gunshot wounds to the torso Sunday after they were shot by an unwanted party guest at a gathering near the university campus shortly before midnight Saturday.
Sophomore tight end Lo Falemaka and freshman running back Marcel Brooks-Brown are expected to recover, police said.
Salt Lake Police Sgt. Robin Heiden said the host of the party at 310 S. 1300 East asked three men to leave. When they refused, Brooks-Brown and Falemaka also requested that they leave.
"At some point they got involved into an altercation back and forth. I don't know if it became physical or what not but one of the male suspects pulled out a gun and shot both of the victims," Heiden said.
Police are looking for three suspects in their 20s. One is described as a white, heavy-set man with facial hair. The second is described as a 6-foot tall black man, who was wearing a baseball hat with a red bandana and a red T-shirt. The third is described as a black man, about 5-feet-9 with short dreadlocks, who was also wearing a baseball hat and red T-shirt.
Gang detective are working the case because the shooter and his companions may have gang ties, police said.
Heiden said Falemaka of West Valley City and Brooks-Brown of Rio Linda, California, were both in stable condition.
Nils Balleck, a neighbor, said he was among about two dozen people hanging out along 1300 East Saturday night when the shooting occurred.
"There was just some pushing and shoving and loud voices and all of a sudden, bang, bang, bang," he said.
At first, the crowd thought they had heard fire crackers, Balleck said.
"The reactions were not 'fireworks reactions,'" he said. "People kind of started freaking out when they realized that people just got shot."
Head football coach Kyle Whittingham, in a statement released Sunday morning, said the U. football program was optimistic that Falemaka and Brooks-Brown would recover and resume their roles on the football team.
"Obviously, our first concern is that both Lo and Marcel are going to be OK, which appears to be the case. We don't have all of the details yet, but it is our understanding that they are the victims included in this incident and we feel very fortunate that they are expected to fully recover. It is unknown at this time how soon they will be able to return to the football field, but we are optimistic it will be in the near post future," Whittingham said.
Falemaka attended Cottonwood High School, walked on the U. football team in 2013 and redshirted the season. He since received a scholarship, played on the scout team and appeared in the first two games this season. He recently moved to tight end from inside the offensive line.
Brooks-Brown attended Rio Linda High School. This is his first season on the team. He was expected to redshirt.
Salt Lake Police Lt. Craig Gleason said there were dozens of people at the party and conflicting witness statements had made it difficult for police to determine exactly what took place Saturday.
"It will take some detective work to finally drill down to what happened," he said.
Balleck said there were several people on the street near the party that others could have been in the line of fire.
"There were definitely a lot of people around that could have potentially got hurt," he said.
Salt Lake police are asking anyone who was at the party or may have taken photographs or videos that may help with investigation to contact them at (801) 799-3100.
Contributing: Sandra Yi, Ben Dowsett
