Georgia Southern fullback Dominique Shawn Swope has been arrested and charged with aggravated battery, Statesboro police announced Tuesday morning.
Swope, 20, of Woodstock, turned himself in at 11 p.m. Monday at the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office after the Statesboro Police Department issued a warrant for his arrest, Statesboro Public Safety Director Wendell Turner said Tuesday in a news release.
Swope was involved in an altercation at the Cambridge at Southern apartment complex on Lanier Drive, which resulted in Cameron Zaquan Lewis suffering “serious head trauma,” Turner said.
The investigation began Feb. 9 when Statesboro police officers responded to East Georgia Regional Medical Center, where Lewis had been brought by friends, police said.
The case was turned over to Detective Sgt. James Winskey who, through further investigation, identified Swope as the offender, Turner said.
Lewis, a fullback, was on the 2013 roster. But when the incident occurred, he was no longer on the team, according to the university’s athletics website.
Barrett Gilham, the director of Georgia Southern Athletics Media Relations, released a statement shortly before
1 p.m. Tuesday saying that head coach Willie Fritz and Athletics Director Tom Kleinlein decided to remove Swope from the team. They had “several conversations with law-enforcement officials” before making the decision, the statement says.
“His return to the team will be determined once he goes through the legal process and there is a better understanding of his involvement with this incident from a legal perspective,” Gilham’s statement says.
Swope missed most of the 2013 season after suffering a shoulder injury. He rushed for more than 1,000 yards in his freshman and sophomore seasons, 2011 and 2012, and ranked the top 25 among Football Championship Subdivision players for rushing yards per game in 2012 — one of only four sophomores to rank that high.
Anyone with information concerning the ongoing investigation is asked to contact Winksey at the Statesboro Police Department at 912-764-9911. Anonymous tips may be submitted online at www.tipsoft.com or by sending a text message beginning with “TIPSSPD” to 274637 (CRIMES).
All information is strictly confidential.