LSU Men's Basketball Player Wayde Sims Killed in Shooting, Suspect Charged With Murder
LSU men's basketball player Wayde Sims, 20, was killed in a shooting early Friday morning near the Southern University campus, the Baton Rouge Police Department confirmed.
Sims was shot at 12:25 a.m. and transported to a local hospital with a gunshot wound. He died from the injury.
Baton Rouge Police released video footage Friday morning of the fight that led to Sims's death. On Saturday they announced the arrest of 20-year-old Dyteon Simpson of Baker, La., for the shooting death of Sims. Simpson was charged with second-degree murder and booked into East Baton Rouge Parish Prison.
Sims, a 6'6" forward, was entering his junior season at LSU. Sims averaged 5.6 points and 2.6 rebounds per game this past season with 10 starts in 32 games for the Tigers. He started five games as a freshman.
The Baton Rouge native was the 2014–15 Louisiana Gatorade Player of the Year. A standout at University High, located on LSU's campus, Sims helped lead his high school team to three consecutive state championships.
“We are all devastated," head coach Will Wade said in a statement. “We need your prayers for Wayde, for his family, for all of us. We are heartbroken.”
Sims's father, Wayne, also played forward on the LSU basketball team for head coach Dale Brown from 1987-91.
Former teammate Aaron Epps took to Twitter early Friday to mourn the team's loss.
The Tigers' football team will remember Sims with a moment of silence before they kick off against Ole Miss.
"This world that we live in of athletics has its ups and its downs, and there's no lower down than what happened last night," athletic director Joe Alleva said in the University's press conference Friday. "It's an absolute tragedy."
