Drake basketball player Tremell Murphy charged after accidental shooting seriously injures man

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A Drake men’s basketball player has been arrested and charged in connection with the off-campus shooting last weekend of a 19-year-old university student.

Tremell Murphy, who is headed into his senior season as a student-athlete, has been charged with false reports to law enforcement and discharging a firearm within city limits, two misdemeanors, according to a news release from Des Moines police. 

Murphy was booked in Polk County Jail on Thursday and bonded out about 90 minutes later. The charges come nearly two weeks after the male victim was, according to a Des Moines police report, accidentally shot during a party in a home where Murphy lived.

Murphy has indicated to police that the gun was his and he did not mean to discharge it, police records show.

Jarad Bernstein, a spokesman with the university, said officials there are conducting a review of the shooting, which they believed to be accidental. Murphy, one of the Bulldogs’ starters last season, has been removed from men’s basketball team activities, according to a statement from Bernstein.

Tremell Murphy, a Drake University men’s basketball player, is seen in a Polk County Jail booking photo from Thursday, Sept. 12, 2019, after his arrest in connection with an accidental shooting in Des Moines. (Photo: Polk County Jail/Special to the Register)

Bernstein declined to comment about whether Murphy was still allowed on campus or if the shooting victim, who was struck in the head, had been released from a hospital. Bernstein also would not say if the victim was associated with the men’s basketball team or the athletics department. 

A spokesman for Drake University Athletics did not respond to a request for comment Thursday. 

The charges for Murphy stem from a report about 11 p.m. Aug. 31 in the 1100 block of 27th Street. Des Moines police arrived at a house party and found a 19-year-old man with a towel being compressed on his head, lying near a small pool of blood, according to an incident report.

Police were told by several witnesses the person had fallen, but an officer noticed a bullet hole in a wall near where the man was being treated. The round appeared to come through the wall from an adjacent room and a shell casing was found on a bed in that room, investigators found.

The victim, who authorities believe was shot from an adjacent room, has been identified, but the Register does not typically name the victims in shootings without their consent.

Murphy, a 6-foot-6 forward for the Bulldogs, eventually told investigators that the room where the casing was found was his and there was a gun in the home. 

“Murphy told officers that he had a .22-caliber pistol in a dresser drawer in the bedroom. One spent shell casing was recovered from the room,” the police release states. “Throughout this initial investigation, Murphy insisted that (the victim) had fallen and injured his head.”

The release later says that “Murphy indicated that he accidentally discharged the weapon. Murphy also admitted knowingly withholding information in regards to the shooting.”

Des Moines police Sgt. Paul Parizek said the gun was lawfully possessed and no other charges are expected.

Murphy, whom Drake basketball’s website lists as a native of Griffith, Indiana, transferred to the Bulldogs from Florida Southwestern after being named an All-American at the junior college level in 2018. He started 32 games for Drake last season, averaging about 10 points and six rebounds a game.

“This is a sad and difficult time for the Drake community,” Jerry Parker, Drake’s dean of students, said in a statement Thursday. “Our thoughts are first and foremost with the injured student and his family, and with the hope of a full recovery. The injury is serious but not life-threatening, and, gratefully, no one else was hurt. The University will continue providing support to all of those affected by the incident, while we complete the internal review.”

It’s the second time in about a year that a student-athlete in Iowa has been charged for his involvement in what investigators believe was an accidental shooting.

Former Iowa wrestler Sam Stoll was charged with false report to a public entity as a senior in 2018 for allegedly lying to police about how he was shot in the knee. The All-American heavyweight initially told police he shot himself, but eventually reported that he made the story up to protect a friend that had shot him during a prank. He pleaded to a lesser charge of disorderly conduct and was fined.