| Pablo Lopez |
Full Name: Pablo Javier Lopez
Born: June 30, 1965
Died: September 12, 1986, Tallahassee, Fla.
School: South Miami High School in Miami, Florida
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| FSU Career |
| Football | |
Year No Pos Hgt Wgt Cl Ltr Hometown 1983 62 OL 6-6 245 Fr Miami 1984 74 OT 6-4 257 Fr-R * Miami 1985 74 OT 6-4 268 So-R * Miami 1986 74 OT 6-4 281 Jr-R Miami |
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From the Tallahassee Democrat, September 14, 1986, Page 1, by Bill
Cotterell. FSU's Lopez dead after shooting. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Florida State University football lineman Pablo Javier Lopez was killed by a shotgun blast following a confrontation outside a campus dance early Saturday, and a Tallahassee man was charged with first-degree murder. Investigators said Lopez, a starting offensive tackle from Miami, was dead on arrival at Tallahassee Memorial Regional Medical Center shortly before 2 a.m. Lopez, a junior studying criminology, had been shot once in the abdomen with a 12-gauge shotgun. Byron C. Johnson, 20, of 411 Chapel Drive, Apt. 109, was charged with killing Lopez and held without bail at the Leon County Jail. Johnson, a cook at a fried-chicken restaurant near Campbell Stadium, was not a student. A teammate of the slain player was charged with threatening students with a pistol and firing a shot toward an FSU police officer moments after the slaying. No one was injured in that incident. Edward Lewis Clark, a Seminole linebacker also from Miami, who was driving a car in which Lopez was a passenger before the shooting, was charged with aggravated assault and firing a pistol in a public place. Clark surrendered at the FSU police station Saturday evening and was booked into the county jail on the two felony charges. A Tallahassee Community College student, Chevelle Lepolden Bennett, 20, of 844 N. Macomb St., was charged with being an accessory to the slaying, a felony. FSU police said Bennett drove Johnson to the home of another man, who was not involved in the case, where Johnson got the shotgun. FSU Police Lt. Jack Handley said other arrests may result from the shooting that occurred near Montgomery Gymnasium, but he declined to go into details pending completion of the investigation. Handley said more than 200 students and other young people were present, and that dozens remain to be questioned. Campus flags were lowered to half-staff. A memorial service has been set for 3 p.m. Monday at Ruby Diamond Auditorium, and the funeral service will be held in Miami. FSU head coach Bobby Bowden said he was "shocked and deeply saddened" by the 21-year-old player's death. Bowden and several FSU players rushed to the hospital after the shooting. Bowden met the victim's mother, Blanca Lopez Bazo, when she flew in from Miami early Saturday. Officials said Lopez's father lives in Puerto Rico and had not been contacted Saturday. Bowden said Lopez had been married on Monday. His wife, Potsie Lopez, also lives in Miami. Lopez and Clark both lived at 253 Hayden Road. Campus police said, in interviews and in affidavits filed with the case, that an unidentified teenager sounded a fire alarm at the old gym shortly after midnight, and hundreds attending the dance spilled out onto Landis Green and Magnolia Drive in front of the building. Handley said Lopez and Clark were driving by, and drove their car through the crowd "at a high rate of speed." No one was hurt by that incident, but Handley said Johnson may have intentionally struck or kicked the hood or side of the car, prompting an angry confrontation with the football players. After Lopez and Clark left, police affidavits said, Bennett drove Johnson to the home of a friend, where they borrowed a shotgun and returned to the campus. About an hour and ten minutes after the initial gun-waving incident, police said. Lopez and Clark returned to the Montgomery Gym area - this time stopping in a rear parking lot where more than a 100 students were milling around. Handley said the men again confronted Johnson on a grassy strip between parked cars, but that Clark did not brandish his pistol this time. After further argument, Handley said, Johnson ran to Bennett's car and got the shotgun, returned to the parking lot median and shot Lopez once in the abdomen. Handley said FSU Officer George Barber, who heard the shot from nearby, immediately arrested Johnson, who offered no resistance. After Barber handcuffed Johnson and confiscated the shotgun, Handley said, Clark produced the pistol and fired toward them. Clark's arrest affidavit said he "did unlawfully and intentionally make an assault on Officer George Barber with a firearm, a deadly weapon, but without intent to kill." Johnson's arrest report said he admitted shooting Lopez, knowing he was unarmed. After firing the pistol toward Barber, the affidavit said, Clark drove away but was located later in the morning and informed that he would be charged with two felonies. Handley said police had also informed Bowden, who later encouraged Clark to cooperate in the investigation. Handley said there was no evidence of intoxication or illegal drug use in the incident. He said Johnson, 20, apparently did not know Lopez and there was no indication of any past trouble between the two men. Lopez and Clark were not involved in the false fire alarm that emptied the gymnasium shortly after midnight, Handley said. He said the teenager, unidentified because of his age, had been charged with sounding a false alarm, a misdemeanor. Co-workers at the Lindy's Fried Chicken restaurant on West Pensacola Street, where Johnson worked as a cook, described the suspect as a quiet and friendly man, nicknamed "BJ," with no reputation for violence. Lopez, a 6-foot-4, 281-pound offensive tackle, was in his second season as a starter for the Seminoles. He had been an all-state and all-South stand-out at South Miami High School and was namedto The Football News sophomore all-America team last season. Clark, 20, has been a second-team outside linebacker for FSU this year. The sophomore graduated from Miami's American High, and was one of seven freshman to earn letters for the Seminoles last year.
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| All-American Awards |
| Football |
Year Award 1985 Football News - 3rd Team Sophomore All-American |
| FSU Statistics |
| Football |
Season Statistics
Defense
| Tackles | Sacks | Fumble | Pass Defense | Blkd | PAT Attempts | | | |
Year GP | ua a Tot tfl-yds | no-yds | ff fr-yds-td | int-yds-td qbh brup | kick | kick rsh rcv | fg | saf dxp | td | pts
---------|----------------------|----------|--------------|---------------------|------|-----------------|--------|---------|----|----
1983 | 0 0 0 0.0- | 0.0- | 0 0- 0- 0 | 0- 0- 0 0 0 | 0 | 0- 0 0 0 | 0- 0 | 0 0 | 0 | 0
1984 9 | 0 0 0 0.0- 0 | 0.0- 0 | 0 0- 0- 0 | 0- 0- 0 0 0 | 0 | 0- 0 0 0 | 0- 0 | 0 0 | 0 | 0
1985 10 | 0 0 0 0.0- 0 | 0.0- 0 | 0 0- 0- 0 | 0- 0- 0 0 0 | 0 | 0- 0 0 0 | 0- 0 | 0 0 | 0 | 0
1986 2 | 0 0 0 0.0- 0 | 0.0- 0 | 0 0- 0- 0 | 0- 0- 0 0 0 | 0 | 0- 0 0 0 | 0- 0 | 0 0 | 0 | 0
---------|----------------------|----------|--------------|---------------------|------|-----------------|--------|---------|----|----
Tot 21 | 0 0 0 0.0- 0 | 0.0- 0 | 0 0- 0- 0 | 0- 0- 0 0 0 | 0 | 0- 0 0 0 | 0- 0 | 0 0 | 0 | 0
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Offense/Kick and Punt Returns
| Rushing | Receiving | Passing | Kick Returns | Punt Returns | all
Year GP | no yds avg td lg | no yds avg td lg | cmp- att-int yds td lg | no yds avg td lg | no yds avg td lg | purp
---------|----------------------|----------------------|--------------------------|-----------------------|-----------------------|-----
1983 | 0 0.0 | 0.0 | - - | 0.0 | 0.0 |
1984 9 | 0 0 0.0 0 | 0 0 0.0 0 | 0- 0 - 0 0 0 | 0 0 0.0 0 | 0 0 0.0 0 | 0
1985 10 | 0 0 0.0 0 | 0 0 0.0 0 | 0- 0 - 0 0 0 | 0 0 0.0 0 | 0 0 0.0 0 | 0
1986 2 | 0 0 0.0 0 | 0 0 0.0 0 | 0- 0 - 0 0 0 | 0 0 0.0 0 | 0 0 0.0 0 | 0
---------|----------------------|----------------------|--------------------------|-----------------------|-----------------------|-----
Tot 21 | 0 0 0.0 0 | 0 0 0.0 0 | 0- 0- 0 0 0 | 0 0 0.0 0 | 0 0 0.0 0 | 0
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| Football |
Game Participation
| Starts
1984 | GP Off Def
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Sep 1 East Carolina | 1
Sep 15 Kansas | 1
Sep 22 Miami | 1 ST
Sep 29 Temple | 1
Oct 6 Memphis State | 1
Oct 20 Tulane | 1
Nov 3 Arizona State | 1
Nov 17 UT-Chattanooga | 1
Dec 1 Florida | 1
Dec 22 Georgia | 1
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Tot | 10 1 0
| Starts
1985 | GP Off Def
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Aug 31 Tulane | 1 LT
Sep 7 Nebraska | 1 LT
Sep 21 Memphis State | 1 LT
Sep 28 Kansas | 1 LT
Oct 12 Auburn | 1 LT
Oct 19 Tulsa | 1 LT
Oct 26 North Carolina | 1 LT
Nov 2 Miami | 1
Nov 16 Western Carolina | 1
Nov 30 Florida | 1
Dec 30 Oklahoma State | 1
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Tot | 11 7 0
| Starts
1986 | GP Off Def
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Aug 30 Toledo | 1 ST
Sep 6 Nebraska | 1 ST
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Tot | 2 2 0
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Career Tot | 23 10 0
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| Football |
Game Statistics |
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