Former Indianapolis Colts running back, Zurlon Tipton, passed away on June 28 in Roseville, Mich., after accidentally killing himself, the Associated Press reports.
The ex-NFL player pulled into Mike Riehl’s Roseville Chrysler Dodge Jeep car dealership Tuesday morning (June 28), and when clearing his trunk of all his necessities, one of the two guns in his duffel bag accidently went off.
The bullet struck him in the stomach, leaving Tipton wounded, but bystanders and officers expected him to survive, as he remained conscious and was able to communicate with them during the tragedy.
“If you know you have handguns in a bag and you are stuffing other items on top of it, the potential for pulling the trigger inadvertently with an object today was there that’s what happened by all accounts,” said Deputy Chief of Roseville police, Donald Glandon.
Tipton was rushed into surgery, but was unable to make it through the procedure.
His mother, Cortrice Boone, remains in shock following her son’s death. The former pro-athlete was visiting Michigan for the week and only went to the dealership to get a transmissions leak fixed.
“At first you don’t believe it,” said Boone. “I went to the hospital and he was in surgery for a couple of hours and I haven’t talked to anybody but I’m thinking everything is okay. Then I went home and I (said) to call me when he’s out of surgery. And then they called us and told us the bad news.”