Report: Slain NAU student was legally drunk at time of fatal shooting
Nov 25, 2015, 4:12 PM | Updated: 5:36 pm
Colin Brough was killed in a shooting at Northern Arizona University on Friday, Oct. 9, 2015. (Facebook Photo)
(Facebook Photo)
PHOENIX — A Northern Arizona University student who was shot and killed last month reportedly had a blood-alcohol content more than three times the legal limit.
12 News reports that Coconino Medical County Medical Examiner Lawrence Czarnecki found Colin Brough, a 20-year-old student, had a blood-alcohol content of 0.285 when he was killed. There was also evidence he had recently used marijuana.
Three other people were wounded in the Oct. 9 shooting. Police said the shooting followed a physical confrontation between two groups of students about 1 a.m.
Another 18-year-old student, Steven Jones, has pleaded not guilty to killing Brough.
Jones told police he shot the group of students with a .40-caliber handgun only after they hit him in the face and chased him, according to court documents.
Jones told investigators that several people approached him and two friends while they were outside a residence. A fight broke out between the two groups, and Jones said he was hit in the face. An officer noticed he had a split lip. Jones said he had been hit “pretty hard” in the back of the head, according to a police report.
He said a group chased him to his car, where he retrieved a handgun. Two of the victims had stopped following him but turned around when Jones yelled that he had a gun, court documents said.
Jones also said he tried to administer first aid to one of the victims.
Coconino Deputy County Attorney Ammon Barker alleged Jones left the fight, retrieved the weapon from his car and returned to the fight.
“There is no indication of self-defense here,” Barker said. “The defendant had retreated from the fight, he obtained a gun and then he went back into the fray.”
Jones faces one count of first-degree murder and three counts of aggravated assault, NAU said. He is being held on $2 million bond.
A GoFundMe page has been established for the victims.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
