A former Florida football player was involved in a fight with his girlfriend a few hours before he shot dead a man and injured another, according to the arrest statement issued on Thursday.
Travis Rudolph, 25, was ordered to remain in jail during a hearing in West Palm Beach on Thursday morning.
He is charged with one count of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted first-degree murder.
Officers detailed the shootings in a statement issued by the sheriff’s office in Palm Beach County.
Investigators said Rudolph’s girlfriend told them she called a friend after Wednesday’s fight. The friend and three other men went to Rudolph’s home, where a fight broke out, according to the statement on his own responsibility. A witness told investigators that Rudolph chased after the men and shot them with a rifle after they returned to their car and started driving away.
Officers found a dead man inside the vehicle and an injured man outside the vehicle.
Authorities arrested Rudolph shortly thereafter. The case now reaches a grand jury. Judge Charles Burton on Thursday barred Rudolph from communicating with any of the victims or their families.
Rudolph told the judge he intended to hire a lawyer. Rudolph was Florida’s top receiver in 2015 and 2016. He left the team early to join the NFL Draft in 2017.
He eventually signed with the New York Giants and then the Miami Dolphins. He also spent time with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League.
The team released him on Wednesday. He gained national attention in 2016, when a video of him having lunch with an autistic student during a team visit to a high school in Tallahassee went viral.
Rudolph’s father died a year later after a gun was accidentally fired at a strip club in West Palm Beach.