Phil Urban, a college basketball player at Connecticut’s Post University, died Dec. 17 after he was shot at a nature preserve in New Jersey, officials said. He was 20.
The Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement that police from Hopewell, New Jersey, arrived at the Hopewell Valley Nature Preserve to find Urban “slumped over” the driver’s seat of a white Mercedes C300. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead from a gunshot wound.
Urban was from Manalapan, New Jersey, about 30 miles from where his body was found.
“Preliminary investigation indicates Urban arranged to meet an acquaintance at the preserve and was shot at some point during the encounter. No arrests have been made,” the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office said in its statement.
The office also said the Mercer County Homicide Task Force and the Hopewell Township Police Department are investigating the matter.
“The Post University community is heartbroken to learn of the death of freshman student, Philip Urban last night,” Post University CEO and President John L. Hopkins said in a statement on Dec. 18.
“As a member of the men’s basketball team and a business administration major, Philip modeled the attributes of leadership, commitment and hard work on the court and in the classroom. We hope that his family, friends and those affected by his passing will find strength during this extremely difficult time.”
Urban, who committed to Post in April, is listed as a 6-foot-6-inch freshman forward on the basketball team’s website. He had played in four games and didn’t score any points during the current season.
Post is 6-5 on the season, and the team’s Dec. 18 game against Barry University in Lakeland, Florida, was canceled. The squad’s next game is scheduled for Dec. 29 at home against Assumption University.