A near-legendary high school football player from the Los Angeles area is in critical condition following a shooting at a Halloween party at a USC Halloween party that was sponsored by a campus organization.
As reported by the Los Angeles Times and a variety of other outlets, former Los Angeles (Cal.) Crenshaw High wide receiver Geno Hall was shot seven times when an as-yet unidentified gunman entered a Halloween party put on by the USC Black Students Association and opened fire. Hall was one of four in attendance who were struck by bullets, with the former Crenshaw star immediately being transported to an area hospital, where he has been listed in critical condition after undergoing extensive surgery for his bullet wounds.
No USC students were reportedly involved in the shooting in any way, and USC players were reportedly not in attendance at the event, according to Trojans head football coach Lane Kiffin.
Hall was the 2009 L.A. City Football Player of the Year and at one point was considered a significant — if undersized — college football prospect. In the end, Hall decided to attend West Los Angeles Community College, where the receiver has emerged as a star wideout on the school's football team while working on an associate of arts degree.
Hall's community college stint has always had a single aim: Getting the receiver to a larger Division I program, with schools in Hawaii, New Mexico and Oregon all expressing interest, according to Hall's father.
To get that kind of interest despite standing just 5-foot-7 and 155 pounds is an athletic accomplishment, indeed.
Now, the 2010 Crenshaw graduate will re-focus his efforts on healing completely, something his father is confident he will do.
"The doc says he'll pull through but they're keeping him up there," Eugene Hall, Geno Hall's father, told the Times. "He's a quiet person. All Geno do is come [home] and go to school."
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