One of two men fatally shot during an attempted robbery in Denton Sunday was a former standout for the Euless Trinity High School football team home for the holidays, authorities said.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office identified the two men shot and killed during the home invasion robbery attempt as 22-year-old Terrence Neal Tusan and 18-year-old Jakobi Dmon Gipson, both of Arlington.
Tusan's mother, according to the Denton Record-Chronicle, had reported him mssing to the Arlington police on Tuesday morning after she said she had not heard from her son for two days.
The Record-Chronicle reported that both men were shot and killed at an apartment complex on the 1500 block of Meadows Street in what Denton police described as an altercation involving five people. Police said three men forced their way into an apartment and gunfire broke out, leaving the two intruders dead and two residents wounded. The third suspect fled.
Tusan graduated from Trinity High School in 2011 and was a running back for Howard University in Washington, D.C.
On Christmas Eve, Howard University issued the following statement:
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"Today, the Howard University family mourns the loss of student athlete Terrence Tusan, a senior from Arlington, Texas, who was majoring in Leisure Studies. Terrence played as a running back on the Howard University Football team for three seasons. We extend our deepest sympathies to the Tusan family at this difficult time."
Further information on Gipson is not yet known.
"Tiny Terrence" and Trinity's 12th Man
Terrence Tusan was the subject of a 2010 NBC 5 story on the Trinity Trojans and their diminutive running back, a 5 foot 6 inch player known at the time as "Tiny Terrence."
In 2009, "Tiny Terrence" was named the MVP of the state championship game where he scored two touchdowns and led the Trojans to an overtime win over Austin Westlake.
In the interview with NBC 5, Tusan said ahead of the 2010 championship that one of the things that motivated him as a high school football player was the legacy left behind by his older brother Joseph, a college athlete at East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma who was killed in a racially-motivated hit-and-run crash in 2004.
Tusan, who wore No. 2 to honor his older brother, would watch and cheer on Joe at every game and said that he knew Joe was now watching his games and was watching over him.
“He's always with me. I feel it,” said Tusan.
Tusan was a redshirt junior at Howard. In 2014, he carried the ball 61 times in 10 games for a total of 331 yards with one touchdown. Through the air, Tusan caught 12 passes in six games for 51 yards and one touchdown.
