Former Buc Shot Dead By Police

Demetrius DuBose, a former linebacker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Notre Dame, was fatally shot by police during a struggle when officers responded to a burglary call, officials said.

Police arrived around 8:30 p.m. Saturday at a Mission Beach home and found a group of people at an intersection. DuBose, 28, who matched a description for one of the burglary suspects, ran when officers tried to talk to him, police spokesman Lt. Tom Orden said.

The officers chased DuBose and when they caught him, there was a struggle and he knocked down the officers. DuBose ran again. When officers caught him a second time, there was another struggle, Orden said.

The officers used a martial arts weapon to subdue him. "They tried to warn him to stop," Orden said.

Dubose grabbed the weapon, started to attack the officers and that's when police shot him, according to Orden.

DuBose was taken to Scripps Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival at 9:14 p.m., according to San Diego County medical examiner Chuck Bolton. DuBose had been shot several times and an autopsy is set for today, Bolton said.

AP

DuBose (right) celebrates with former teammate John Lynch.

The two officers, who have not been identified, were removed from field work, pending an investigation by homicide detectives and the district attorney's office, which examines all officer-involved shootings, Orden said.

DuBose played for Notre Dame from 1989 to 1992. He was a second-round draft pick of Tampa Bay in 1993 and played four seasons with the team. He signed with the New York Jets as a free agent in 1997, but was waived by the team four months later.

A spokesman for Tampa Bay did not immediately return a phone call from The Associated Press this morning.

DuBose was arrested in South Bend, Ind., in 1998. Police said DuBose became belligerent after a nightclub worker, an off-duty police officer, told him to leave. The player allegedly grabbed a pipe from an overhead sprinkler system - flooding the club with some 1,600 gallons of water.

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