Friday night still haunting Catawba players

David and Leigh Anne McCrary were sitting in their Welcome home Friday night when the phone rang. T.J. Lawson was on the other end.

Any other time, there would be no need for alarm. Lawson is the best friend and Catawba College roommate — and football teammate — of their son, Brad.

But the timing of the call (around 11:30 p.m.) and the frantic sound of Lawson’s voice let them know this wasn’t a social call.

Their son had been shot.

The McCrarys froze for an instant, not believing what they had been told. Shot? Bullets? At tiny Catawba College?

“It was absolutely unbelievable,” said Leigh Anne “We kept on the cell phone all the way to the hospital.”

Once there, they found their son with mangled legs. A bullet had gone through his left leg and lodged into his right. But he was alive.

The same couldn’t be said for teammate Darris Morris, who was shot in the chest and died around 11 p.m. Friday.

“My heart goes out to the Morris family,” Leigh Anne said Wednesday while attending the Morris funeral in Batesburg, S.C. “We realize things could be so different. We could so easily be in the place they’re in today.”

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It was supposed to be party like so many others on college campuses across the nation. Pine Knot dorm was the scene. McCrary was in his room across the hall from the gathering.

McCrary said several Livingstone College students had made their presence felt.

“Nobody invited ’em. Nobody knew ’em. But somebody was like, ‘Something’s going on,’ There was a lot of trash talking in the room.”

A fight broke out and ended up outside the Pine Knot dorm. It eventually dragged itself down the street toward Goodman Gymnasium.

McCrary and several other football players surged toward the crowd to break it up, McCrary said.

“I was running after those guys too — to break it up,” he said. “I remember some punches being thrown and then everybody backing away. I saw them open their trunk and doors. I ran a little farther toward them. I saw a guy with something in his hand.”

McCrary then stopped in his tracks as he watched a person point a gun in one direction and shoot.

“I heard gunshots,” said McCrary. “Then, he pointed it toward me. I felt something ...”

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McCrary said the bullet felt like he had been hit with a baseball bat. Behind him, basketball player Duke Phipps was also hit with a stray bullet.

“I don’t think the guy was aiming at anybody,” McCrary said. “I think he was just shooting at whoever he could.”

By this time, it was chaos. McCrary estimated there were 200 people in the area.

One was Lawson, who said he saw Morris go down in a pool of blood.

“There was a ton of people out there,” Lawson said. “I saw D-Mo fall and I dove behind a truck. The firing ceased and it was like bees. Everybody took off running.”

That’s when McCrary came around the corner, hollering for Lawson to get his keys.

“It looked like Brad’s leg had been dipped in paint,” Lawson said of the blood. “He was semi-calm but he was very urgent.”

The two North Davidson products, best friends since the ninth grade, headed for Rowan Regional Medical Center, unaware of Morris’ condition.

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Khanis Hubbard, a defensive lineman, could tell them later of Morris’ tragic death.

“I saw enough to know what happened,” said Hubbard, of Raleigh. “I was probably 30 feet away. I saw bullets ricochet off the ground. I saw sparks.”

Hubbard heard teammate O.J. Lennon yell, “D-Mo’s down.” When he got to his friend, Morris was on the ground being attended to by a trainer.

“You could see blood on his face and his chest,” Hubbard shuddered. “I know it’s a cliche but it was like a dream because it happened so fast.

“Two shots came slowly, like ‘Pop! Pop!’ Then, he unloaded.He hit the ground a couple of times. Bullets went everywhere. You could see the muzzle flash.”

Ten minutes later, the ambulance showed up. It was too late for D-Mo.

Five days later, Hubbard shakes his head reliving Friday night.

“Duke and McCrary were standing behind me,” he said, “and there had to be at least five people between me and D-Mo. So it was a blessing that more people didn’t get hurt.”

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The Livingstone students were arrested but that does not bring back Darris Morris.

“I wish D-Mo was still alive,” said McCrary, sitting in a wheelchair in the parking lot after Wednesday’s funeral. “I don’t know why they had to take his life. Why did they have to bring a gun into the issue? It’s a senseless act of violence.”

McCrary will play again. The bullets missed arteries and bones and doctors want him to walk to avoid blood clots. But he said he is in pain.

“Brad’s physically doing well,” his mother said. “Emotionally, he’s coping the best he can. All the guys are leaning on one another.

“None of us are sleeping very well at night.”

And she isn’t talking just about her immediate family. The football players still seemed stunned Wednesday.

“That night, there were just enough ingredients for something bad to happen,” Hubbard said.

“It’s like a dream and I’m waiting to wake up,” said Lawson, who has told his story to private investigators several times. “It doesn’t seem right this could happen at Catawba College. But I think we’ll be all right. Nothing can break our bond. They don’t recruit football players. they recruit new brothers to us.”

But bad memories will linger.

“If I had been one second earlier, I’d probably have been at that car too, trying to get them off. I’d be in the same place D-Mo is.”

Hubbard knows everyone simply must overcome.

“Nothing like this has happened here before,” he reasoned. “I doubt it ever will again.”

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Contact Ronnie Gallagher at 704-797-4287 or rgallagher@salisburypost.com .