Jasper Howard

STORRS — Jasper Howard, a standout defensive back on the UConn football team, was stabbed to death early Sunday morning after a party on the university campus.

No arrest has been made.

In what was the first homicide here in recent memory — perhaps the first ever at the rural school that opened its doors in 1881 — the 20-year-old Miami native was stabbed outside the Student Union on Hillside Road after a fire alarm was pulled during a university-sponsored dance.

According to UConn police, an altercation occurred between two groups of people — students and nonstudents — just outside the building soon after the fire alarm sounded at 12:26 a.m. Two people were stabbed in the fight, including Howard, at approximately 12:33 a.m. The other victim, a UConn student who hasn’t been identified, was treated and released from Windham Hospital.

“The suspect has not been identified,” said Maj. Ronald Blicher, a UConn police spokesman. “It did happen in front of witnesses. There were a lot of people in the area.”

Both victims were taken by ambulance to Windham Hospital, but Howard was later flown by LifeStar helicopter to St. Francis Hospital in Hartford, where he was pronounced dead sometime before 4 a.m.

Read More