Former Ball State Alumni Eric Patterson, who realized his dream of making it to the National Football League, tragically and senselessly lost his life when he was reportedly shot and killed according to multiple reports.
Patterson was gunned down in his Tampa home early Saturday morning.
“It was senseless man,” his father, Eric Patterson, Sr., said. “It was just senseless for somebody to do something like that.”
“That’s my son. I want to know who did it,” Patterson Sr. said.
The 26-year-old, who played for several teams in the NFL, leaves behind 6-year-old and 7-month-old daughters. His family is demanding justice.
“Somebody knows something,” said Lana Bembow, his sister. “It’s somebody that’s close to him. How it happened, it’s somebody that he knew. It’s not a stranger. It’s definitely not a stranger.”
“So just be a man. You were a man to shoot him. Step up whoever it was,” Patterson Sr. pleaded.
His last tweet on Twitter came in the early morning hours of Saturday.
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NFL players like Todd Gurley took to Twitter to give his condolences.