Reuters6:09 p.m. CDT, June 10, 2012


(Adds quote from football coach, background)By Tom Bassing
AUBURN, Ala., June 10 (Reuters) - Three men including two
former Auburn University football players were shot dead and
three others including a current player were wounded when an
argument at a pool party at an off-campus apartment complex
escalated, police said on Sunday.Two of those shot to death, Edward Christian and Ladarious
Phillips, both 20, no longer played for Auburn. A current member
of the team, Eric Mack, also 20, was wounded and admitted to
East Alabama Medical Center. His condition was not released.
The third fatality was Demario Pitts, 20, police said.
The three athletes were members of Auburn's 2010 recruiting
class and joined the team that season, which ended with the
Auburn Tigers winning the national championship.
Auburn Police Chief Tommy Dawson identified the suspect as
22-year-old Desmonte Leonard of Montgomery, the state capital,
and said he was being sought on three counts of capital murder.
Leonard fled the scene in a white Chevrolet Caprice with two