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ESPN is reporting Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey, and his twin brother, Dolphins C Mike Pouncey, were with former Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez at a Gainesville, Fla., nightclub in 2007 before two men were wounded by gun fire - Hernandez is being investigated as the shooter.
In a report obtained by ESPN's "Outside the Lines," The Pounceys were with Hernandez at The Venue night club in Gainesville Sept. 30, 2007. Also, former Jaguars S Reggie Nelson, who was a rookie with Jacksonville and a former teammate of the Pounceys and Hernandez were there.
Of the three men in the vehicle, Corey Smith, 28-year-old at the time, was shot in back of the head and Justin Glass, the 19-year-old driver, was shot in the arm, while Randall Cason was unharmed sitting in the back seat behind Smith, according to ESPN.
Cason told police a "Hawaiian or hispanic male," standing around 6-foot-3 or 6-foot-4 with a lot of tattoos, opened fire on the car, with shots striking the two victims. Cason said a black male accompanied the shooter, and later identified that male as Nelson.
Nelson told Gainesville police he was at the club, but was not at the scene of the alleged crime. He did say Cason was accused of having stolen a necklace from one of the Pouncey twins, and that Nelson confronted him at the night club. Nelson told police there was no incident, and the two parted ways without incident.
According to Outside The Lines, a portion of the police report still included Hernandez's name while redaction black covers up a name in the rest of the report.
According to that report, and despite claims to the Orlando Sentinel denying Hernandez was a suspect, Hernandez declined a request to speak to detectives, "evoking his right to counsel."
That section also noted Cason "rescinded his identification of Aaron Hernandez and Reggie Nelson," thus confirming the victim identified Hernandez as well as Nelson.
Reports do not suggest either Pouncey brother as having been a part of the alleged shooting, but Nelson spelled out a connection between them and the victim. Neither were named in the police report for any reason outside one of them (it says "one of the Pouncey twins") owned a necklace that was allegedly stolen by Cason.
What role that played in the supposed altercation could be a detail of interest for investigators, but even at the time, police noted Hernandez was not a suspect in the shooting.
More to come