Ex-Boise State RB Jack Fields shot dead after stabbing sheriff’s deputy

A tragic story on multiple fronts developed earlier this week involving one former member of the Boise State Broncos football team.

According to a press release from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, 25-year-old Jack Fields was shot at least once by a Richmond County (Ga.) Sheriff’s deputy at an Augusta Residence Inn Thursday night and died as a result of his injuries. Prior to the officer-involved shooting, the deputy, Stephan Psillos, was stabbed multiple times in the shoulder and head by Fields.

From the GBI’s release:

On Thursday, November 15, 2018, at approximately 8:11 PM, the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office was called to the Residence Inn on Marks Church Road in Augusta regarding a trouble with subject call. Richmond County Sheriff’s Deputy Stephan Psillos responded to the location and encountered Jack Darrel Fields Jr, 25, of El Paso, Texas, in the lobby of the hotel. During the encounter, Deputy Psillos attempted to place handcuffs on Fields at which time Fields resisted arrest. Fields pulled a knife from his coat pocket and attacked Deputy Psillos stabbing him multiple times. Deputy Psillos fired his service weapon striking Fields.

Per the release, Psillos was transported to a local hospital to receive treatment for unspecified injuries and is expected to fully recover. An autopsy on Fields’ body was performed Friday, and the results are expected to be released next month.

An investigation into the shooting is also ongoing.

“From everything that I have seen, it was totally justifiable,” Sheriff Richard Roundtree told the Augusta Chronicle. “Again, I don’t need to make that kind of determination. My only concern is if my deputy is going to be OK, going to recover.”

Fields played running back at Boise State from 2012-15, rushing for 336 yards during his time with the Broncos.

In February of 2015, Broncos wide receiver Rick Smith was hospitalized with a skull fracture and brain hemorrhaging after he was assaulted in the Boise locker room by a teammate; it was alleged that Fields was that teammate, although he was never arrested in connection to the incident as Smith declined to press charges.

“I got the information (Friday) morning,” head coach Bryan Harsin said after Boise State’s win over New Mexico last night. “Being a part of a team and you have guys on your team and you have things like that happen, it hurts, regardless of what happened. That was a hard thing (Friday) morning. We let the team know because it was out there and that was a hard thing the team had to deal with (Friday) morning, too.”