Two California high school football players shot before game, one killed

Updated 9:21 p.m. PDT

A California high school football playoff game has been postponed after two Grant (Sacramento) players were shot in an off-campus incident, and one killed.

Team pastor and statistician Tommie Williams told Joe Davidson of the Sacramento Bee that Grant starting cornerback Jaulon Clavo died at UC Davis Medical Center following the afternoon off-campus shooting while driving. 

Williams told Davidson that senior fullback Malik Johnson was also shot in the arm and taken to Kaiser Permanente Medical Center. A third team member in the car was not hit by gunfire, which was reported to police at 3:42 p.m.  

That was just more than three hours before the team's scheduled Sac-Joaquin Section Division II home opener with Beyer (Modesto), Williams said the boys drove to get a bite to eat and on the way back to school they were shot. They continued back to school to get help.

“No one knows who (did this) or no one knows why this happened,” Williams told Davidson. “It’s so sad because these were not troubled kids, they’re good kids who went to get something to eat off campus and this happens."

The game has postponed and tentatively scheduled for next week. SJS commissioner Mike Garrison is working with Grant to pick out a day that makes sense.

Right now, the Grant community is grieving deeply. The last thing on the mind right now of a 9-1 team that has a chance to win a state title is playing football.

"These senseless shootings have got to stop," Williams told Davidson. "There's nothing but hurt. Pain. Disbelief."

Davidson, a contributor for MaxPreps who has covered Grant and the SJS for the last 26 years, said Grant is a resilient program.

"Grant football and the Del Paso Heights community has a lot of really good people and will recover," Davidson said. "It won't be easy. Overcoming the senseless death of a kid never makes sense, but Grant will rally and recover behind iconic coach Mike Alberghini."

Davidson said fans should not be leery of attending Grant games.

"I've been to a lot of games at Grant and it's plenty safe," he said. "Yes, it's a tough neighborhood, but people are safe at Grant games. I've seen it and lived it."

MaxPreps will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.