Northwestern State University is mourning the death of one of its student-athletes.
On Thursday, NSU President Dr. Marcus D. Jones announced on the school’s alumni website that Ronnie Caldwell Jr. — a Texas native who was a business administration junior — passed away.
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“Ronnie’s commitment to the community was truly inspiring, as evidenced by the fact that he spent the summer coaching a local youth baseball team, teaching these kids the values of competition and sportsmanship,” his announcement read.
According to KTBS-TV, officers with the Natchitoches Police Department responded to a report of a shooting at an apartment complex shortly after 1 a.m. Upon arrival, Caldwell, 21, was found with “multiple gunshot wounds” and was pronounced dead by the Natchitoches Parish Coroner’s Office, KSLA reports.
No arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing, the Natchitoches Parish Journal reports. PEOPLE has reached out to NPD for comment.
In his statement, Jones shared that counseling and support services will be available “to all students, faculty and staff who may need them.”
According to the university’s athletics website, Caldwell was a transfer student who previously played two seasons at Tyler Junior College, where he had a 3.7 grade point average.
“He appeared in all 11 games in 2022, starting 10 of them, and finished seventh on the team in tackles,” the website said in a statement.
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Although he has yet to play in a game in 2023 due to an injury suffered in preseason camp, he served as the “de facto assistant defensive coach” and was named to the fall Southland Conference commissioner’s honor roll.
While reflecting on his death, head football coach Brad Laird said it was a “tremendous loss” for the university.
“Ronnie Caldwell was a young man with a bright future ahead of him on and off the football field. He was our voice in the locker room. When Ronnie spoke, others listened. The respect our football team had for Ronnie was evident,” continued statements. “He didn’t play a single moment this year due to injury, but his voice resonated with every member of our team from the first player to the 115th on our roster.”
Athletics director Kevin Bostian echoed similar sentiments in his own statement, adding that “Caldwell was a devoted teammate, friend, brother and son.”
“His teammates, coaches and staff members who had the pleasure of knowing Ronnie will remember his ever-present smile and the way he could light up any room when he walked in,” the statement continued. “Words truly cannot express the pain we feel for Ronnie, his family, his teammates and our university community.”
After news of Caldwell’s death became public, the Southland Conference announced that the NSU football team’s upcoming game was canceled.
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“The decision was made after communication between the Southland Conference administration, Northwestern State University and Nicholls State University,” read a post on their website.
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