AUBURN, Ala. -- Authorities were searching Monday for a suspect in a deadly shooting at a party at an off-campus apartment complex, and police said they had arrested another man who allegedly interfered with the investigation.
Montgomery police say 41-year-old Gabriel Thomas is charged with hindering prosecution. He was arrested late Sunday.
Investigators say Thomas had contact with 22-year-old Desmonte Leonard and then provided false information to officers looking for the man.
Three people were killed in the Saturday night shooting, including a former south Georgia football star, and another was clinging to life as Auburn police and U.S. Marshals conduct a manhunt for the alleged shooter.
Three capital murder warrants have been issued for Leonard, police said.
Auburn Police Chief Tommy Dawson said Leonard, who should be considered armed and dangerous, may be in the Montgomery area.
Leonard has a history of gun violence, the Auburn-Opelika News reported, citing court records. He was charged with carrying a pistol without a permit and theft in 2008 ands second-degree assault in 2009 for shooting a 16-year-old in the groin. Leonard was not indicted on the theft and assault charges, the News said.
Edward Christian, 20, an offensive lineman from Valdosta who was redshirted during the last season and was sidelined with back injuries, was killed at the scene, police said.
Christian graduated from Lowndes High School in 2010 after being named to the the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's 2009 Super 11, a list of the 11 standout high school football players selected at the beginning of each season.
Ladarious Phillips, 20, who reportedly quit playing football after also being listed in the 2011 Auburn football roster as a redshirt freshman, was taken to East Alabama Medical Center in Opelika, Ala., where he died, authorities said.
Demario Pitts, 20, who is not a football player but lived in Opelika, died after the shooting at a nearby hospital, police said.
One more victim, 20-year-old John Robertson, is "fighting for his life" at University of Alabama Birmingham hospital, Dawson told reporters Sunday afternoon.
Two more men, Xavier Moss, 19, and sophomore Tigers offensive lineman Eric Mack suffered minor injuries, police said.
The incident happened late Saturday night at an off-campus apartment complex where a pool party was being held with reportedly between 200 and 300 people.
Christian was ranked the No. 19 prep offensive tackle in the country by ESPN following the 2009 season. He originally committed to Florida State, but changed his mind for Auburn.
A fight began at the party when shots were fired, Dawson said.
"Someone got carried away, and someone got shot," he said.
Turquorius Vines, who is not a student at Auburn, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution he was partying with several friends, including former Auburn football players, at the University Heights complex a couple of miles from campus shortly before midnight when the gunfire broke out.
“It was about a female,” Vines told the AJC Sunday morning. “It started from a female. We were trying to get away from the trouble and it ended up right in our face.”
Vines told the Associated Press that he and one of the victims got into a dispute with two men. He said he punched one of the men, and his friend broke a bottle over at least one of the men's head.
Then, one or both of the men began shooting, Vines said.
Vines did not say which friend was with him.
The incident happened outside the gated apartment complexes club house, which is outside the gates.
The party “went from us chilling with all these females to a massacre for no reason at all,” Vines told the AJC. “It happened so quick, in about a second.”
As dawn broke Sunday, the parking lot in front of the complex’s clubhouse remained cordoned off by yellow police tape.
Several police technicians continued to process the scene. One searched the bushes and parking lot with a metal detector, while two others took measurements with surveying equipment.
Dawson called the shooting tragic and said it was particularly sad that it involved students and student athletes, and he has asked the public to cautiously help police find Leonard.
"He is to be considered armed and extremely dangerous," Dawson said.
Police are also seeking two persons of interest whom Dawson declined to identify.
"They know who they are, and it would be good if they contacted ... police," he said.
Return for updates.
-- The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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