Freshman linebacker Ethan Pritchard returned to Florida State’s campus for the first time since being shot in the head on Aug. 31 and is expected to attend the Seminoles’ home finale Saturday against Virginia Tech, according to multiple reports.
Pritchard, who said he plans to play football again, was released from an inpatient rehab Thursday and rang the bell before leaving Brooks Rehabilitation in Jacksonville, according to the Associated Press.
While on the FSU campus on Friday, head coach Mike Norvell asked if he had a message for the team, and Pritchard said to “go win,” according to On3.com.
Pritchard, a four-star recruit out of Seminole High School who didn’t play in the FSU opener the same day as the incident, was shot in the back of the head while dropping his aunt and a child off following a family party, with police labeling it a case of mistaken identity and arresting four people following the incident.
“I remember everything,” Pritchard said in an interview with WESH-TV, according to the AP. “I turned the corner and shots rang off. I put the car in reverse and just backed up and after that, I don’t remember what else happened.”
In the days after the shooting, Norvell told reporters that “it’s a lot, not going to say it’s not,” according to ESPN.
Caron Miller (18), Germany Atkins (23), Jayden Bodison (22) and a 16-year-old juvenile were arrested, and Gadsden County Sheriff Morris Young said at the time that Pritchard did “absolutely nothing wrong.”
“I try to give the players a daily update,” Norvell told reporters in early September. “… We are absolutely praying for him every day and trying to be there for our players, too. Yes, it’s one thing on the field, but it’s also off the field, that’s one of their brothers and a guy they deeply care about.
“Just working through this part of the tragedy of what it is.”
The Seminoles sit at 4-5 with three games left in the season entering their matchup with Virginia Tech.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
