Ethan Pritchard health update: New detailes emerge after FSU player shot in head

Florida State freshman linebacker Ethan Pritchard remains in a Tallahassee hospital after he was shot in the back of the head Sunday while driving his aunt home from a family gathering, his father told WFTV-9. The shooting took place about 25 minutes from FSU’s campus.

“Just ask the community and everybody for their prayers,” Earl Pritchard, Ethan’s father, told WFTV-9 on Monday according to ESPN. “He was actually in the car taking my sister around the corner to her daughter’s house to drop her off. They turned the corner, and as soon as they turned the corner, they heard gunshots.”

At the time, Earl Pritchard said his son was “heavily sedated, and doctors are waiting for the swelling in his head to decrease before assessing the damage” of the gunshot wound, per WFTV-9.

Ethan Pritchard has since been reclassified to stable condition as of Wednesday morning, according to Florida State head coach Mike Norvell.

“It’s a lot,” Norvell said in his press conference Wednesday. “I’m not gonna say it’s not. I try to give the players a daily update. I talked to Ethan’s dad this morning. I’m trying to just check on him, check on Ethan. I was able to go by yesterday just for a short period of time. It was limited visitation, so you get a chance to be there for just a handful of minutes. It was good to be with him.

“He’s still in stable condition and he’s going through the process. He’s got all the things that are in front and we’re absolutely praying for him every day and just trying to be there for our players too. Yes, it’s one thing on the field. But also, off the field it’s one of their brothers. It’s somebody they deeply care about. Just kind of working through some of the tragedy of what it is.”

The shooting took place shortly before 10 pm ET Sunday evening in Havana, Fla., roughly 16 miles from Tallahassee and near the Florida-Georgia border. Pritchard is originally from Sanford in Seminole County, which is in Central Florida about a four-hour drive south from Tallahassee.

When Gadsden County Sheriff’s officers arrived near the Havana Heights Apartment complex, Ethan Pritchard was found wounded inside is vehicle.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Gadsden County Sheriff’s Office are currently still investigating the incident. The Gadsden County Sheriff’s Office is asking residents to stay vigilant and encourages anyone with information to come forward.

Ethan Pritchard was a three-star recruit in the 2025 recruiting cycle out of Seminole High (Sanford, Fla.). He was the 555th-ranked player and the 61st-ranked linebacker in that recruiting class.

Newly-minted No. 14 Florida State is coming off of a massive 31-17 victory over then-No. 8 Alabama on Saturday. Pritchard, a true freshman, did not see any action in that game.

— On3’s Chandler Vessels contributed to this report.