NBA guard Bryce Dejean-Jones shot in break in
By Peter Gilbert
Last Updated: 29/05/16 11:37am
Rookie New Orleans Pelicans NBA shooting guard Bryce Dejean-Jones has died after being shot when he broke into a Dallas apartment.
Dejean Jones kicked in the front door of the apartment and woke up the resident in his bedroom and failed to respond when the man called out.
The 23-year-old then kicked the bedroom door and was shot with a handgun. He collapsed in the apartment's hallway and died at a hospital form a gunshot wound to his abdomen.
The shooting is under investigation, police said.
Dejean-Jones was "believed to be breaking into the apartment of an estranged acquaintance" but entered the wrong one, the apartment complex manager said in an email to residents obtained by Dallas NBC television station KXAS.
Dejean-Jones was reportedly in Dallas to celebrate his daughter's birthday and got into an argument with the child's mother before the shooting.
Dallas ABC television station WFAA quoted sources as saying that Dejean-Jones' girlfriend lived in the apartment complex.
A 6-foot-6-inch (1.98-meter) guard from Iowa State University, Dejean-Jones had averaged 5.6 points and 3.4 rebounds in 14 games with the Pelicans.
He made his NBA debut in January. Dejean-Jones, a native of Los Angeles, had signed a multi-year contract with the New Orleans club in February.
"We are devastated at the loss of this young man's life who had such a promising future ahead of him. Our thoughts and prayers are with Bryce's family during this difficult time," the team said in a statement.
