A Dallas, Texas, youth football coach has reportedly been shot dead by an opposing coach. Mike Hickman's team was facing off against another team on August 13, 2022, when the two coaches began to disagree about a call made by an officiant.
A witness told authorities that the shooting happened after a "disagreement between the opposing coaching staff of two youth football teams over calls made by the officiating crew."
Hickman and Yaqub Talib, the brother of former NFL player Aqib Talib, began arguing around 9 p.m. The argument became physical, and then Talib reportedly shot Hickman several times before leaving the scene of the crime.
Memorials have been pouring in for Hickman, who was a celebrated member of his community. The president of his football club, Mike Freeman, told WFAA-TV, "I held his son, Little Mike Jr., and I held him like my son, and it was very, very, very hard to hold him and console him because again … just letting him know that we'll be there for him."
There were roughly 80 children at the field the night of the shooting. As Freeman put it, "This is something that these kids will remember for the rest of their life. They'll never forget this moment."
Talib turned himself in to authorities on August 15, 2022.
