Former SHU Football Star Killed In Rhode Island Shooting

PAWTUCKET, RI — A former Sacred Heart University football star was shot and killed over the weekend in Rhode Island.

Keshaudas Spence, 29, died Saturday after he was fatally shot in Pawtucket. Spence was an award-winning former student-athlete at Sacred Heart and the football program's all-time leading rusher.

"It is with the deepest sympathy that we grieve the loss of our former teammate and brother Keshaudas Spence," Sacred Heart head coach Mark Nofri said in a statement. "'Shaudy,' as he was known to his teammates, was one of the greatest ever to wear a SHU football jersey. Shaudy was a great football player, outstanding teammate and an even better person. #33 will always be remembered as a Pioneer. RIP Shaudy. You will be missed."

Police responded early Saturday to shots fired on Central Avenue and found a vehicle stopped nearby George Bennett Industrial Highway in Pawtucket, with Spence inside the car suffering from gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at Rhode Island Hospital.

Police said a second person was in the driver's seat and haven't said if that person is under suspicion.

Spence was a member of the Sacred Heart football program from 2011-14, and remains its leading rusher with 3,745 yards, according to the school. He earned Second-Team All-America honors from The Sports Network in 2013 and was on the Walter Payton Award watch list after setting the single-season school record with 1,669 rushing yards. Spence helped lead the Pioneers to back-to-back Northeast Conference championships in 2013 and 2014, as well as to the team's first bid to the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

He graduated in 2015 with a degree in communications and went on to play for the Green Bay Blizzard and Iowa Barnstormers of the Indoor Football League, according to WPRI.

The shooting remains under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Craig Letourneau at 401-727-9100 ext. 818 or cletourneau@pawtucketpolice.com.