NMSU was ‘aware’ of previous incident regarding player involved in weekend shooting
LAS CRUCES, New Mexico -- NMSU officials said today during a news conference that the university was aware of the altercation basketball player Michael Peake was involved in during the NMSU-UNM football game on Oct. 15.
NMSU athletic director Mario Moccia said Peake was disciplined at the time, but didn’t provide any details on the punishment he faced.
Peake was involved in a deadly shooting at the UNM campus Saturday morning. Authorities say Peake was lured onto campus by a girl, and three men involved in the fight wanted to allegedly ‘get revenge’ for Peake’s involvement in that fight, according to court documents.
One UNM student Brandon Travis shot at Peake who had a gun with him - returned fire killing Travis in the process. Peake remains hospitalized after being shot in the leg.
NMSU dean of students Ann Goodman said all students are prohibited in any school function and any student who breaks the rule is subject to disciplinary action.
Moccia said he has spoken to Peake but didn’t share any details on his condition or what kind of disciplinary action if any he’ll face.
According to the university, Peake remains part of the NMSU Basketball team and Greg Heiar remains the head coach of the team. The team will travel to Las Vegas where they will be taking part in a basketball tournament.
NMSU chancellor Dan Arvizu says the school is currently reviewing everything that led to the deadly shooting and looking into what the university can do in hopes of preventing similar incidents in the future.
“The events of last week are tragic, and shouldn’t happen especially at a university campus,” Arvizu says. “We’re taking the events extremely seriously and what we can do to avoid this in the future.”
Moccia says the university hasn’t actively searched the bags of student-athletes on bus trips, but said the university will be reviewing what can be done to improve their travel protocols.
On Tuesday, UNM announced that as a result of the shooting both schools agreed to cancel the basketball series between both schools. The series between the women’s team will take place as scheduled.
