ORLANDO/TALLAHASSEE, Fla (Reuters) ? Hazing may have been a factor in the death of a Florida college drum major following a popular football and marching band competition between two of the state's historically black universities, authorities said on Tuesday.
Drum major Robert Champion, 26, died Saturday night after helping conduct the world-famous Florida A&M University's Marching "100" band during its halftime performance at the Florida Classic in Orlando. The school competes every year before a typically sold-out crowd against Bethune-Cookman University of Daytona Beach.
Witnesses said Champion, a music major from Atlanta who served as one of six drum majors for the 375-member Marching "100" band, vomited and complained that he could not breathe in a band bus in the parking lot of an Orlando hotel after the game. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
"The investigation indicates that 'hazing' was involved in the events that occurred prior to the 911 call for assistance," Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said in a statement.
Earlier on Tuesday, FAMU President James Ammons said in Tallahassee that the school would indefinitely suspend all activities of the marching band and would appoint a task force "to determine if there are any unauthorized and questionable activities associated with the culture of the Marching '100.'"
"We don't have all the facts at this time, but we are going to get them," Ammons said. "Our first priority at Florida A&M University is to protect the safety, health and well being of our students, faculty and staff members."
The Marching "100" is renowned for its high-stepping, high-energy dance routines. The band was invited to perform at both of former U.S. President Bill Clinton's inaugural parades, and in Paris in 1989 at France's Bastille Day Parade to celebrate the bicentennial of the French Revolution.
Both the prestigious band and the university have faced hazing allegations in the past.
In 2001, a former FAMU marching band member won a $1.8 million verdict in a civil battery suit against five band members for a hazing incident in which he was beaten so badly his kidneys shut down. The student also settled out of court with FAMU for an undisclosed sum.
In 2005, Florida lawmakers bolstered penalties for hazing that resulted in great bodily injury or death. A year later, five Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity members at FAMU were charged under the new law for a hazing incident that left the victim needing surgery after being caned more than 90 times.
Two of the fraternity members were convicted and sentenced to two-year prison terms.
In the latest case involving the drum major, Orange County Sheriff's Captain Angelo Nieves said further tests will be needed after the medical examiner's autopsy of Champion on Monday was inconclusive as to the exact cause of death.
Nieves said the sheriff's office was investigating both the death and hazing, and was conducting interviews at the FAMU campus in Tallahassee.
"In the next few days or weeks, it will become clearer as to whether any criminal charges will be forthcoming," Sheriff Demings said. "Our goal is to ensure that a complete investigation is done and that justice will prevail."
(Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Greg McCune)
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