College hockey player caught pushing disabled person's wheelchair down stairs
Pennsylvania's Mercyhurst University has suspended a hockey player from his team after he was caught pushing a disabled person's wheelchair down a flight of stairs.
Junior student Carson Briere, 23, acknowledged his involvement in the incident which took place on Saturday (11 March) at a bar in Erie, PA, after footage of the scene was shared widely online.
The video doesn't have any sound, but shows Briere - wearing a white hat - chatting at the top of the stairs before briefly taking a seat in the unattended wheelchair.
After moving it along the corridor, he stands and another student positions the wheelchair at the top of the stairs before Briere shoves it over the edge.
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A co-owner of the bar, Rick Filippi, said the wheelchair belonged to a female customer who had been using the chair upstairs but who had been assisted downstairs to the bathroom.
A GoFundMe has since been set up to raise money for a new wheelchair for the woman, who has been described as a 'double amputee that needs the chair to be mobile while she is learning to use her prosthetics'.
Filippi claimed the video had been obtained by bar staff who had shared the clip online, prompting Mercyhurst University and the Erie police to investigate the incident.
Two other student athletes were suspended along with Briere, though the Mercyhurst athletics department did not name the athletes involved.
"After conducting an initial investigation into the incidents depicted on social media, the Mercyhurst Athletics Department has determined that the three individuals in the video are student-athletes," the department said.
"We have placed all three on interim suspensions from their athletic teams per school policy, pending the outcome of the investigative process."
The announcement came after Briere addressed the matter on Wednesday (15 March) in a joint statement with his father, Danny Briere, who is a former NHL player and now works as an executive for the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers.
Briere commented: "I am deeply sorry for my behavior on Saturday. There is no excuse for my actions, and I will do whatever I can to make up for this serious lack of judgment."
Danny Briere said he was 'shocked' to see his son's actions in the video shared online, adding: "They are inexcusable and run completely counter to our family's values on treating people with respect. Carson is very sorry and accepts full responsibility for his behavior."
Mercyhurst University said Briere's actions make their 'hearts heavy', adding: "We pray for and are in solidarity with the victim and all persons with disabilities who rightfully find actions like this to be deeply offensive.
"Our Mercy tradition also reminds us that students and all people who make poor choices deserve opportunities to learn, change behaviors and atone for harmful actions."
Emily Brown