Livingstone's Shavarez Thompson Dies In Shooting

BY ED DUPREE AND ELIZABETH G. COOK
SALISBURY POST

CHARLOTTE - Livingstone College football player Shavarez Thompson worked as a server at Wilora Lake Lodge during breaks from school. The upscale retirement community was friendly and secure, and he had been making friends there since his senior year of high school.

But on Sunday, trouble stalked him to this safe place.

Thompson and several other servers had just reported to work around 11 Sunday morning when intruders stepped in, lodge manager Lisa Haimbaugh told the Post today.

"Three fellas came in who knew Shavarez and they knew a girl in common," she said. "They started fighting, fist-fighting, and our staff went to call police." As the staff member was returning to the hallway area by the employee entrance, "a shot went off."

Thompson was shot in the abdomen. The three men who had confronted him fled.

An ambulance rushed Thompson to Presbyterian Hospital, where he died about four hours later. He was 19 years old.

"Shavarez was a good kid," Haimbaugh said. "When everyone found out that Shavarez didn't make it, that was rough." Residents develop close relationships with the young men and women who serve their meals, she said. "They were saddened by the loss."

Charlotte police released only sketchy details and said a homicide investigation is under way. Assisting them is some important evidence from the crime scene: videotape from the Wilora Lake Lodge security camera. Haimbaugh said the camera caught the three suspects on tape.

Meanwhile, news of the young man's death is spreading through the Livingstone community.

"It's senseless," said Livingstone head coach Rudy Abrams. "I've been shaking my head, hoping I would wake up from a bad dream all day yesterday. I just couldn't believe it was real. He was just a great young man and just a super athlete who I thought had just a tremendous future ahead of him. I thought he had pro written all over him."

Thompson, a 6-foot-4, 190-pound strong safety, earned first team All-CIAA honors by intercepting six passes during the regular season and making a lot of tackles. He also had an interception and deflected a pass that was intercepted by a teammate in Livingstone's 23-9 loss to Tuskegee in the Pioneer Bowl game in Atlanta on Dec. 19. Thompson received votes for Livingstone's player of the game in that contest.

"He was just a great young man and fun to be around," said Abrams. "He was a good student. ... You just loved working with him, and he enjoyed what he did so much. It wasn't like he was an unknown kid. He was one of the guys who really just enjoyed what he was doing, and he made everybody else more lively. He will definitely be missed."

Thompson starred at East Mecklenburg High School, where his older brother had played for Abrams.

Thompson was Abrams' water boy when he was a youngster. He was recruited to Livingstone, where he redshirted as a freshman during the 1997-98 school year. He was a sophomore academically this school year, but still had three more years of football eligibility.

Abrams said Thompson earned all-conference honors for several reasons, not just his interceptions.

"First of all, he was a hitter. He was really an aggressive player, and he just seemed to have a sense of being where the ball was going to be. He's always in position to intercept passes," said the coach.

Abrams said he came to Salisbury last night to telephone most of Thompson's defensive teammates. The players are not on campus because of the holiday break.