USF Defensive Back Hassan Childs Injured in Shooting

Per a statement from USF head coach Charlie Strong, Bulls’ senior defensive back Hassan Childs was injured in a shooting last night. According to Strong, Childs is in stable condition and was the only person injured. His full statement is below:

“We are deeply concerned that an incident occurred overnight in which one of our players, Hassan Childs, was injured in a shooting. Thankfully, Hassan is in stable condition and being well cared for, and no one else was injured. There is an ongoing investigation of the incident and we are in the process of gathering further information. Out of respect for the integrity of the investigation, we cannot comment further at this time.”

According to Tampa Police, the incident was possibly road-rage related and occurred at Eagles Point Apartments in Tampa Palms. Childs and another man confronted each other and both pulled guns on each other, with the other man firing and hitting Childs three times in the torso and arm. Childs is in the hospital being treated for non-life threatening injuries, while the incident is still being investigated further to determine the aggressor. Joey Knight with the Tampa Bay Times first reported the details of the incident.

Childs, a fifth-year senior, battled back from a torn ACL in 2015 to record 16 tackles last season. We’ll update this post as we find out more.