Witnesses say Western player fired shots at Thunder Ridge

By Carey Phillips

Gordon, a junior reserve fullback from Dallas, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Corey Matthews of Asheville.

Information regarding witness accounts is contained in an affidavit law enforcement filed requesting a search warrant for Gordon's WCU dorm room. The affidavit states that Matthews was shot in the neck at 1:50 a.m. in the parking lot of the Maggie Valley night club.

Witnesses said Gordon was seen shooting a handgun in the Thunder Ridge parking lot. One of those witnesses said Gordon had shown him a handgun during the past year at a WCU dorm and another said Gordon was seen on Dec. 6 carrying a handgun at a Cullowhee restaurant.

A 9 mm handgun and 11 shell casings were recovered in the parking lot, according to the affidavit. The document also says that the football player told a Waynesville police officer that Gordon's fingerprints would be found on the gun.

WCU Athletic Director Jeff Compher said Thunder Ridge is now "off limits" to student-athletes and athletic department employees, including coaches.

Compher has met with members of the football team as well as the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, which is comprised of athletes from each sport at Western. A meeting with all student-athletes is planned for Jan. 9, the first day of classes for the spring semester.

Compher said members of the football team and the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee agreed with the decision.

"Most of them had no intention of going back anyway," he said. "The coaches all feel the same way."

A large College Night crowd was on hand at Thunder Ridge the night of the shooting. Other WCU football players were with Gordon, although Compher said he did not know how many and declined to identify any of them.

"We feel like we've taken action, and we'll continue to take action as we learn more about the events of that evening," Compher said.

The shooting is not the first time a member of the WCU athletic department had gotten in trouble at Thunder Ridge. Brent Pry, an assistant football coach, was charged with driving while impaired and assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury in the early morning hours of Nov. 4. The assault charge was dismissed, but he pleaded guilty to driving while impaired.

Pry resigned last week to take a job an assistant coach at Louisiana-Lafayette.

Three WCU football players are facing charges of assault inflicting serious injury in connection with an Oct. 14 fight at the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house in Cullowhee. They are all-conference cornerback Marquail Wells, starting tight end Brian Rucker and walk-on Herbert White.

Back to Archive: 12/20/01.