COLORADO SPRINGS — The 29-year-old man who was shot and killed near a Pikes Peak Pop Warner youth football game in Colorado Springs over the weekend has been identified.
According to the El Paso County Coroner's Office, he was Donte Maurice Rice.
The Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) says their investigation revealed the shooting was not related to the Pikes Peak Pop Warner football game happening, or Atlas Preparatory School, which is located near where the shooting happened.
CSPD says no suspects are in custody at this time.
If you have any information regarding this incident, you are asked to call CSPD at (719)444-7000. If you want to remain anonymous, you can call the Crime Stoppers Tip Line at (719)634-7867.
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A 29-year-old man, later identified as Rice, is dead after a shooting during a Pop Warner youth football game, according to CSPD.
The game was held outside of Atlas Preparatory School, which is located near East Fountain Boulevard and South Murray Boulevard.
In a statement, Atlas said Pikes Peak Pop Warner had rented the school's field for the day and none of the people involved in the shooting are believed to be affiliated with the school. The statement said the shooting happened in a nearby parking lot and involved spectators of the Pop Warner game.
Pikes Peak Pop Warner President Michelle Quintana shared the following statement with News5:
"We want to address the unfortunate incident that occurred during our Pop Warner games at Atlas Prep this afternoon. This situation was not related to our teams; it involved two individuals with prior personal issues who do not have children in our league and do not participate in any coaching or volunteer roles. The safety of our athletes and their families is our top priority, and we are implementing additional measures to ensure their continued safety in the future. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims' family during this difficult time."
CSPD says the shooting occurred after a verbal altercation between two men in the parking lot. They say one of them shot Rice, who died at the scene.
News5 heard from Pikes Peak Pop Warner Monday after a deadly shooting over the weekend at a league game in Colorado Springs.
The group is looking into hiring armed security at football games. It also would like to provide grief and trauma counseling.
Right now, there is no timeline for when kids will return to the field.
"When you witness something like that, especially you know a 10, 11,12, 13 year old kid sees that we need to make sure that they are okay and processing that correctly and make sure that they are okay to move forward before we even talk about playing a game," said Casey Slack, Secretary with Pikes Peak Pop Warner.
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