East Carolina suspends three after BB gun incident

East Carolina has suspended three freshman scout football team players indefinitely from all team activities after police issued the three citations following an incident involving a BB gun, according to WITN.com.

The players, linebackers Yiannis Bowden, Markel Winters and wide receiver Curtis Burston, were cited and released by authorities for discharging a weapon within city limits on Tuesday.  Discharging a weapon within Greenville, N.C. city limits is a misdemeanor.

According to the report, witnesses saw three males inside a vehicle firing weapons toward the ground as they were driving a street.

The incident caused a local elementary school to be locked down for about 10 minutes.

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"One of the benchmarks of our program is that our players will be held accountable for their actions on and off the field, in the classroom and in the community," East Carolina head coach Ruffin McNeill said. "It is with this commitment in mind that I have suspended these individuals indefinitely for their actions that were irresponsible and dangerous. They have acknowledged their mistake and now part of our job is to help them learn from this situation."

The players have not seeing any game action through the first five games this season.

The No. 19 Pirates (4-1, 1-0 American) play at South Florida (2-3, 1-0 American) on Saturday.

- Scooby Axson