The details on Herb Pope's shooting are still very hazy. Mainly because Pope himself wasn't particularly forthcoming about the incident.Chief Pallante said Mr. Pope walked into Aliquippa Hospital's emergency room early yesterday after someone, whom he did not name, dropped him off and left. Mr. Pope was stabilized and then taken to UPMC.So Pope's story at the moment is that he was at a party at 3 am when someone he didn't know, just shot him four times "for no reason." I'm not sure that is completely plausible. Add in the fact that he was dropped off at the emergency room by an identified person. Well, there's just a few gaps in this narrative.
"He stated that he was at a party at that 800 block of 8th Avenue and someone had shot him," Chief Pallante said. "He did not know who, did not know why."
"He just said somebody did it for no reason," Mr. Reddic said. "I'm not sure of the whole story."
Chief Pallante said Mr. Pope did not say whether he was indoors or out at the time of the shooting.
Right now, the police are giving him a couple days to recover from the surgery and come out of the haze of being shot and pumped full of painkillers before asking any more questions. They claim not to have any leads and the exact house in the neighborhood where the party took place is in question.
Despite being shot four times -- twice in the abdomen, once in the thigh and once in his left arm -- his life is in no danger. As for his basketball career, it seems the gunshot wound to his left arm is going to be the serious issue.
In New Mexico, apparently rumors were flying fast and furious about the nature of Pope's injuries.
Rumors were rampant throughout the Las Cruces region, including one reporter who called The Times after hearing a rumor Pope had died.The New Mexico State Aggies had a linebacker on the football team shot and killed in a drive-by shooting last fall in Long Beach, California, so the school is a little jumpy about these things.
"We hope that Herb is okay and makes a full recovery," said NMSU head coach Reggie Theus in a statement released to the media on Saturday. "This goes way beyond basketball. It is way too early to know a lot right now, we just hope that he is ok."This is just the latest in violence in Aliquippa. There is apparently some gang violence occurring, and some of the conflict is located in the vicinity of where the party Pope attended took place.
There's no getting around the fact, though, that Pope chose to go to a party and stay out past 3 am, despite knowing he was heading out on a flight to Chicago early the next morning (one of his HS coaches was supposed to pick him up at 6 am).
Pope has long been considered a very talented basketball player, but a lack of family stability has contributed to problems. He has moved around a lot between various family members and friends -- putting him in 5 different schools in 6 years. Each of the past two summers he strongly considered moving to Florida to attend a prep school strongly tied to a major Miami AAU team.
In some ways, Pope was the victim and the representation of what many feel is completely wrong with the AAU basketball system these days. He has acquired a reputation as a show-off and prima donna looking out only for what is going to be best for his basketball career and little concern for anything else.
Previously on Fanhouse:
Herb Pope Shot
