MKRob Sports

A man fatally shot inside a Bessemer nightclub early this morning has been identified as 23-year-old Maurice Thomas, a standout scholarship football player at Alabama A&M University.

Thomas and two other men were shot about 3 a.m. inside the Getties Boyz Club, a biker bar, on 22nd Street and First Avenue North.

Bessemer police responded to the scene, assisted by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office which was brought in to help with crowd control.

Thomas was pronounced dead on the scene. Two others were taken to area hospitals.

Authorities said the gunfire followed an altercation between two men inside the club. It wasn’t immediately known whether Thomas was involved in the altercation.

A graduate of McAdory High School, Thomas was a defensive back at A&M where going into last season he had 114 career tackles, including 77 solo, and two interceptions, according to the university’s media guide.

Thomas was a senior majoring in economics. He had one semester of college remaining, his family said today, and had just landed a summer job at Children’s Hospital.

His mother, Letha Thomas, was too grief stricken this morning to talk about her son.

“He was a great student, a great son and a superstar,” said family friend Barbara Gaines who said Thomas was like her own son. “All I know is my baby is gone.”

“Maurice had a sweet disposition. He was a peaceful person,” Gaines said.
His family said they have no idea what he was doing at the club.

“It’s not a place for nobody,” Gaines said.