Frat boys at Southern University in Louisiana lied to police about how a 20-year-old pledge and beloved marching band member collapsed and died during a violent off-campus hazing ritual, according to a report.
Omega Psi Phi fraternity brothers initially told Baton Rouge police that junior Caleb Wilson collapsed suddenly during an early morning ritual at a public park on Feb. 21 — however Wilson actually had a seizure after he was punched in the chest in a local warehouse, sources with knowledge of the investigation told WFAB.
Wilson, a trumpeter with the university’s renowned Human Jukebox marching band, was among nine pledges lined up at the unsanctioned ritual where each was forced to take punches to the chest, sources told the outlet.
Wilson took a blow, collapsed to the warehouse floor and began to have a seizure.
He was rushed to Baton Rouge General Hospital, where he died at 3:15 a.m.
Afterward, members of the fraternity secretly gathered and allegedly concocted the story about Wilson collapsing in North Sherwood Forest Community Park — when in reality none of the students participating had stepped foot in the park that night, sources told the outlet.
Hospital staff contacted Baton Rouge police about the death who then launched an investigation.
Multiple people are responsible for Wilson’s death — but with varying degrees of culpability, WFAB’s investigative sources said.
A cause of death was not immediately determined following an autopsy and further testing is underway.
In response to Wilson’s death, Southern University officials put implemented a ban membership intake on for all fraternities, sororities and student clubs.
Southern University said in a letter to the school community on Tuesday “hazing is a violation of the University’s rules and regulations as well as Louisiana law, and it will not be tolerated in any form.”
“We support punishment to the fullest extent of the law for anyone committing an act of violence that impedes a student from safely and successfully matriculating at Southern,” the school added.