Hampton U. basketball player dies from shooting

HAMPTON -- A Hampton University basketball player has died from what police call an accidental shooting outside a nightclub.

Hampton spokesman Yuri Rogers Mulligan said Theo Smalling of Tampa, Fla., died last night, two days after the starting forward was shot.

The 22-year-old team captain was shot over the weekend in the parking lot of Fusions Nightclub after investigators said another man mishandled a firearm and shot Smalling in the abdomen.

Hampton Police spokeswoman Paula Ensley said 21-year-old Dominique Devon Smith has been charged with reckless handling of a firearm. It is not known if Smith has an attorney.

Ensley said Smalling and Smith knew each other.

HU basketball coach Ed Joyner called Smalling's death devastating.

-- The Associated Press