Sunday morning news broke that Andre Debose was involved in an altercation that resulted in shots being fired from two firearms. It was initially and erroneously reported that Debose was the aggressor in the attack and that the wide receiver had thrown somebody through a window.
Gainesville Police spokesperson Ben Tobias cleared the air Sunday afternoon, correcting the original report and stating that Debose was in fact the victim in the altercation and that Debose had even tried to break up the fight before it escalated to shots being fired outside the residence.
Tobias released this statement and apology via the Gainesville PD Facebook page.
Mr. Debose was actually the one pushed into the glass, and in fact tried to break this altercation up multiple times during the incident.
To Mr. Debose: I apologize that my error put your name and reputation in jeopardy, no matter how briefly. I take full responsibility for this error, and hope that the stories printed and published will correct your name and reputation. Furthermore, I am extremely proud that you intervened in this incident and likely prevented anyone from being injured or killed.”
A sixth-year senior, Debose met with Will Muschamp on Sunday to discuss how the events on Saturday night transpired.
“He told me exactly what happened, which was printed correctly yesterday afternoon, I believe, at some point,” Muschamp said on Monday. “But he’s got to be mentally careful about who he’s hanging around in that situation. He didn’t know some of the guys that were there, obviously. But he’s fine.”
While Debose was not at fault in the incident, Muschamp said the experience was eye opening for the receiver and Debose acknowledged that he needs to be more careful about the situations he puts himself in and the people he associates with.
“He told me it was an eye opening experience,” Muschamp told the media. “He admittedly said ‘coach, I was in a bad place and shouldn’t have been there. I didn’t know all of the people involved.’ I just told him, ‘you’ve got to be careful.'”