Connellsville High School football player shot, killed; Shooter taken into custody

UNIONTOWN, Pa. — A 17-year-old high school football standout was shot and killed inside a Uniontown home Thursday night.

Investigators said Darrell Ross was shot around 7 p.m. in a home on Murray Avenue.

Ross, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound junior wide receiver, caught 31 passes for 343 yards and three touchdowns this season for Connellsville (2-7).

Uniontown police said Ross was shot in the back of the head and found lying on the floor of a house at 39 Murray Ave.

He was transported to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, W.Va., where he was pronounced dead Thursday night.

The suspect in the shooting, Hasani Simpkins, 20, of Uniontown, formerly of Philadelphia, was in police custody.

City police Lt. Tom Kolencik said he was to be arraigned on a charge of criminal homicide before District Judge Randy Abraham of Masontown, the duty magistrate.

“This is a sensitive case as you can imagine,” Kolencik told reporters.

According to police, Simpkins said he was playing with a .22-caliber revolver when the victim was shot, and that the two were not arguing.

Simpkins, police said, described the house as a “hangout.”

“There were tons of people in the home,” Kolencik said.

Simpkins, according to police, said he was in the process of moving from the house after living there for several months.

Channel 11’s Dave Bondy spoke to Ross’s football coach, who said Ross was like a son to him.

Channel 11's news exchange partners at TribLIVE contributed to this report.

WPXI