TOPEKA, Kan. — Washburn University students and faculty honored the life of Dwane Simmons in a candlelight vigil on Tuesday.
Simmons, a Lee's Summit West graduate and Washburn football player, was shot to death in an off-campus shooting Sunday morning in Topeka. Corey Ballentine, another university football player who was drafted Saturday by the New York Giants, was injured in the shooting and later released from the hospital.
A university spokesman said more than 1,300 people came to pay tribute to Simmons on Tuesday evening.
“It really touched us to see all these people turn out for him today," said Nikita Watson, a family friend.
A moment of applause rang out when Rev. T.D. Hicks, the senior pastor of Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, spoke to the crowd and urged anyone with information in Simmons' death to come forward.
“I got mad about it because I’m tired of senseless killing," Hicks said. "If you were at the party and you know something, say something.”
Despite the sadness, there was also joy in the room — the same joy that people in attendance said Simmons brought to the lives of everyone he touched.
Washburn head football coach Craig Schurig said the team will honor Simmons on their jerseys this upcoming season.
The university will also endow a scholarship in his honor.
