DETROIT — A college baseball player from a Michigan school was shot multiple times following Olivet's game in Ohio on Friday.
The shooting incident occurred shortly after 7 p.m. in New Concord, Ohio, on the campus of Muskingum University in the eastern part of the state. The unidentified player was taken to a local hospital, where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries and released to his parents, according to Olivet College.
Olivet said in a statement Saturday that "the rest of the team is safe." The team stayed overnight in the New Concord area Friday, and was scheduled to return home to Michigan on Saturday.
The investigation is ongoing, Muskingum University said. Three law-enforcement agencies responded to the 911 call of shots fired, including campus police, New Concord police and the Muskingum County Sheriff's Department.
According to a statement from Olivet, the player went back to the dugout at Mose Moorehead Baseball Field to retrieve a forgotten item, and that's when the incident occurred around 7:03 p.m. Muskingum University officials issued a shelter-in-place order for the campus at 7:23 Friday night, before the suspect was taken into custody at 7:45, according to the university. The shelter-in-place order was lifted at 9:15 p.m.
After 2 a.m. Saturday, Franklin Grayson, 26, was booked by the Muskingum County Sheriff's Department on charges of felonious assault. A man with the same name has a LinkedIn account saying he attended Olivet from 2016 through 2020, graduating with a bachelor's degree in business administration and management. Olivet documents show a man with the same name participating in 2021 commencement ceremonies, after 2020 graduation ceremonies were postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to a Muskingum University spokesperson, the school had not received confirmation that was the suspect arrested in the shooting incident. The spokesperson was responding to an email from The Detroit News that was sent to the campus police. An Olivet spokesperson didn't immediately respond to a request to clarify any past or present connection between Grayson and the college.
"The college is in communication with the student-athletes and their parents and will continue to provide support in the days ahead," Olivet said in a statement Saturday. "This is a challenging time for all involved and our attention is focused on support the student-athletes and staff members.
"Please keep your fellow Comets in your thoughts and prayers."
The Muskingum County Sheriff's Department didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from The News.
Olivet athletic director Haley Diringer referred inquiries to the statement provided by the college Saturday. A school spokesperson said the statement is all the information the school can share at this time. A message left with head baseball coach Santiago Mendez wasn't immediately returned Saturday.
Olivet was in Ohio to play four games — two against Muskingum and two against Penn State-Behrend — and on Friday night, Olivet, a Division III school between Jackson and Kalamazoo and southwest of Lansing, won its first game of the season, 8-6 over Muskingum, after starting the season 0-12.
The remaining three games of the trip for Olivet were canceled.
Muskingum University canceled campus athletic events through the weekend.
