Police: Bar Fight Prompted Shooting Of Jaguars' Player

Richard Collier's agent said Monday his client is relieved police have arrested a man they suspect opened fire on the Jaguars' player in September. He said Collier is pleased the case is moving forward and that he wants closure.

Tyrone Hartsfiled was arrested on Saturday. The 32-year-old is accused of shooting Collier 14 times, leaving the former tackle paralyzed.

Investigators said Hartsfield and Collier first got into a fight at an Arlington nightclub in April, and they said the Sept. 2 shooting was an act of revenge.

According to a police report filed in April, Hartsfield told officers some guy "pinned him against the wall squeezing his chest," before throwing punches, striking him multiple times in the face and head.

Hartsfield said he heard people at the club call out to the unknown man by the name of Collier and Hartsfield's friends told him the name of the man who hit was Richard Collier, the police report states.

"I know Richard doesn't know him as a friend. Whether Richard is familiar with him I can't comment," said Collier's agent Jeff Jankovich.

In the police report, Hartsfield told officers his attacker was 6 feet 3 inches tall and 225 pounds, but Jankovich said his client is close to 6 feet 8 inches tall and weighs up to 365 pounds.

That inconsistency has some people questioning if Hartsfield went after the wrong man.

"I hate to speculate because I just don't know this man or what his motives were, but it's possible," Jankovich said.

A friend of Collier's who was with him the night of the shooting said before the shots were fired Collier had mentioned he had seen some guy who he had gotten into a fight with, but she said she never guessed it would lead to a shooting.

"For the longest time, I thought people were blaming me for it and now people know it was not me," said the woman who asked that her name not be used. "It's so unbelievable. I can't imagine that someone would get that mad. I can't imagine that someone could have that much rage."

She said the night had been perfect until shots rang out as Collier and Kenneth Pettway were waiting outside a Riverside apartment for her and another friend.

"I could never have imagined that from happening. It was a perfect night. We had fun and it just ended badly," she said.

Collier was in critical condition for days and his surgeon at Shands-Jacksonville Medical Center said most people would not have survived the extent of the injuries. Doctors said one of the bullets hit his spine, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down, and a blood clot caused him to lose a leg.

"He's doing OK under the circumstances," Jankovich said. "His spirits are relatively positive. He's coming to grips with what happened to him."

Hartsfield is being held in the Duval County Jail without bond.