FSU freshman Ethan Pritchard returns to campus nearly 3 months after getting shot

By Canadian Press on November 14, 2025.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida State freshman linebacker Ethan Pritchard, who was shot in the back of the head following the team’s season opener in August, is expected to attend the Seminoles’ home finale Saturday.

Pritchard rang a bell and got a standing ovation while being released from Brooks Rehabilitation in Jacksonville on Thursday. He returned to Tallahassee on Friday and visited with teammates and coaches from an electric wheelchair.

Pritchard, a four-star recruit from Sanford, Florida, was released from Tallahassee Memorial Hospital early last month and transferred to Brooks to continue his recovery.

Pritchard was “not doing anything wrong” when he was shot outside an apartment complex on Aug. 31 near Tallahassee, authorities said. Pritchard was dropping off an aunt and a child following a family party when he was attacked in what officials said was a case of mistaken identity.

Four people were arrested in September in connection with the shooting.

“I remember everything,” Pritchard said in an interview with WESH-TV in Orlando. “I turned the corner and shots rang off. I put the car in reverse and just backed up and after that, I don’t remember what else happened.”

Pritchard added that he couldn’t move his right side when he arrived at the rehab facility in Jacksonville. But he woke up one morning with movement that continues to improve.

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The Associated Press