Texas-Neb. game sparks shooting

The argument started when Texas edged Nebraska on Saturday night and continued oh-so-typically when two buddies with two different favorite teams jawed after the game's final play.

But this college football fight ended very badly.

It ended with the Texas fan, Johnathan Clinton Rodriguez, dead of an apparent accidental gunshot wound to the chest. It ended with his friend, Florida football fan Lionel Loya, jailed and facing an involuntary manslaughter charge.

Neither man hails from Nebraska, and neither is a Nebraska football fan, said the police chief investigating the apparent accidental killing in Havelock, N.C.

But the Cornhuskers' last-second loss is now a footnote in a strange story, one that's making headlines across the country.

“I don't want to add any more conjecture to this, but apparently one was a Texas fan, and the other was not,” Havelock Police Chief G. Wayne Cyrus told The World-Herald on Tuesday.

Police say Rodriguez and Loya, both corporals, were assigned to the same unit at the Marine Corps air station at Cherry Point, N.C. They also were close friends, police say — Rodriguez often stayed overnight at the home Loya and his wife own in Havelock.

Their argument began after Texas kicked a field goal on the game's final play to beat Nebraska 13-12, a win that secured the Longhorns a spot in the national title game. Earlier in the day, the Florida Gators, Loya's favorite team, had fallen to Alabama in the Southeast Conference title game, a loss that dropped the Gators out of the national title race.

A fairly tame argument eventually turned into “a friendly scuffle” the police chief said. That roughhousing grew dangerous when a gun licensed to Loya, who has a concealed carry permit, was “introduced and accidentally discharged,” the police chief said.

“They were just horsing around with each other,” Cyrus said. “We are not clear on it yet . . . but we have nothing to suggest there was any hostile intent on Mr. Loya's part during this scuffle.”

Rodriguez, 21, was pronounced dead at the scene about 2:30 a.m. Sunday. Loya, 23, has been turned over to military authorities, police said, and has been charged with involuntary manslaughter.

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