On August 31, Florida State’s freshman linebacker, Ethan Pritchard, was shot in the back of his head while driving family members home from a gathering. Authorities later revealed that it was a case of mistaken identity, and Ethan was “not doing anything wrong.” Ethan was quickly taken to Brooks Rehabilitation in Jacksonville and was recovering there. Now, FSU’s director of recruiting shares an update on Pritchard’s recovery.

“The FSU recruiting staff is at the Nike clinic in Lake Mary, and we stopped in to check on Ethan Pritchard,” wrote Devin Rispress on X. “Our boy is moving around without a wheelchair and is putting the weight back on. He’s also back in school and doing well academically. God is Good all the time, all the time. God is Good. Go Noles.”

Pritchard was shot while being inside a vehicle outside an apartment complex in Havana just a day after Florida State’s season opener win against Alabama. “I turned the corner, and shots rang out,” Pritchard said about the incident. “I put the car in reverse and just backed up, and after that, I don’t remember what else happened.”

Right after getting hospitalized, reports emerged that Pritchard wasn’t able to move his right side and had a long recovery ahead. Ethan’s father, Earl, started a fundraiser for his son and aimed to raise $170k for his recovery. Quickly, support started pouring in for the Sanford, Florida native, and the campaign has raised $149,855 to date.

“I actually went by and saw him this morning,” Mike Norvell said in August. “There has been progress. Yesterday, he opened his eyes. It was something that was emotional for everybody, to be honest with you. It’s still a long part of the progress in this process moving forward, but it puts all things in perspective, the appreciation of a blink.”

Before the tragedy, the 6-foot-2, 224-pound linebacker was a promising prospect, committing to FSU in October 2023 with high expectations, reflected in his On3 rating of 88.41.

Pritchard’s release from the Jacksonville rehabilitation center in November was a deeply encouraging step. A video posted online captured doctors and nurses rising to their feet in applause as he wheeled down the hallway, ringing a bell. Now that Pritchard has ditched the wheelchair, it’s a positive step in his recovery, one that can finally bring him back on the field as the season progresses.

This is not the only case of college players being victims of gun violence though. On November 21, 2025, Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. was sentenced to five life sentences plus 23 years for the 2022 shooting that killed three UVA football players: Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr., and D’Sean Perry. The players were shot on a charter bus returning from a class field trip.

Then there was Newberry College Freshman Mycheal Edwards-Wallace, who was killed in a shooting in South Carolina in July 2025, shortly before he was scheduled to begin his college career at Newberry College.

Ethan Pritchard opens up on playing football again

Pritchard’s recovery journey was as tough as it could get. The gunshot wound tore through the back of his head, and doctors had to perform an emergency surgery. After weeks in intensive care, he was transferred to a rehabilitation center in October to begin the next phase of his recovery. Doctors had told Pritchard about the neurological impacts of the gunshot wound and other serious issues. However, Ethan persisted and aimed to play football again.

“When I first got here, I couldn’t even move my whole right side,” Ethan said. “It started with that, and after that, it just got better and better. The goal is to return to the football field. Getting back on the field as quickly as I can or not as quickly as I can. So, I ain’t going to rush it. But yeah, just getting back on the field.” To do that, Pritchard went through as many as eight rehab sessions in a day and kept his desire to play again alive.

Pritchard has also filed a lawsuit against the apartment complex at Havana Heights Apartments. He seeks justice for the lack of safety provided to him and his family during this terrible tragedy. The lawsuit centers around the crucial point that the property owners should have been aware of the long history of criminal activity near the apartments. Even the owners living there also face a high risk of crime.

Riverside Apartments has also allowed one of the men arrested in the shooting, Germany Atkins, to live there. This is a big point in the case ahead as he has a criminal record of an illegal firearm charge, which should have violated the terms of his lease.

Meanwhile, the FSU community rallied around him with everything from prayers and donations to public support from prominent alumni. Former FSU DL Jacobbi McDaniel also sent prayers to Ethan and commended his courage and mental toughness. QB Thomas Castellanos did the same. That support is clearly making a difference, and fans might just see their favorite freshman suiting up this year as the season begins.