Photo: Coach Mike Hickmon, Lancaster Police Dept.
A beloved youth football coach in Texas was gunned down during a match on Aug. 13 and the incident was captured on video.
The brother of former star NFL cornerback Aqib Talib, Yaqub Salik Talib, has been arrested and charged with fatally shooting 43-year-old Michael Hickmon in Lancaster, Texas, CBS Dallas reports.
A five-time Pro Super Bowler Aqib Talib, played for the New England Patriots, Los Angeles Rams, and the Denver Broncos. He retired from the NFL in 2020.
The shooting happened in front of the young kids who were playing and watching the game, which was an under-9’s game for kids under nine years old. Hickmon coached the Dragon Elite Academy team.
Hickmon died at a hospital after being shot during an argument between one of the coaching staff, the officiating crew, and parents. He was shot in front of his own 9-year-old son.
The video shows a referee attempting to calm a man as both walk toward a camera as a fight breaks out behind the pair involving several individuals. Parents can be heard yelling before a scuffle breaks out. Within seconds, five gunshots then rang out before Hickmon, who was shot three times, was seen lying motionless on the field. Parents could be seen performing CPR on Hickmon, the Daily Mail reported.
Dragons’ president Mike Freeman told ABC affiliate WFAA the argument started when Hickmon went to pick up a football and someone kicked it away. A disagreement started and two coaches got into a physical altercation. That led to the fighting and eventually the shooting.
Through his lawyer, Yaqub Salik Talib admited to being at the game but denids shooting Hickmon.
There are been an increase in violence ad kids’ sporting events.
There were 31 shootings at sporting events at K-12 schools in 2021, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database. The database, based at the Naval Postgraduate School’s Center for Homeland Defense and Security, tracks every instance a gun is brandished or fired or a bullet hits school property for any reason.
“Most of the shootings were at high school football and basketball games,” lead database researcher David Riedman told USA Today. “Most involved teenage students or non-students attending the games and resulted from a dispute that escalated into a shooting.”
Photo: Coach Mike Hickmon, Lancaster Police Dept.
