ORLANDO, Fla. – Florida A&M University said that it’s dismissing four students for their role in the death of a marching band member last month, while audio of an emergency call released Thursday showed that the drum major had vomit in his mouth in the moments before he died.
University President James Ammons referred to the dismissals in a memo he sent earlier this week to members of the FAMU Board of Trustees, but didn’t specify what the four students did. Authorities say hazing played a role in the death of Robert Champion, but they have not released any more specifics as they continue to investigate.
Ammons says in his memo that the university has a zero-tolerance policy on hazing, then states: “I want to report that four (4) students have been dismissed from the University in connection to the Robert Champion incident.”
The 26-year-old Champion was found unresponsive Nov. 19 on a bus parked outside an Orlando, Fla., hotel after the school’s football team lost to a rival.
In the 911 recording obtained by The Associated Press, an unidentified caller told the emergency dispatcher that Champion had stopped breathing and was unresponsive. Champion had just thrown up, the caller said before handing the phone to a second man.
“We need an ambulance ASAP,” the first caller said. “His eyes are open but he’s not responding.”
The dispatcher told the second man to place Champion on his back and clean any vomit from his nose and mouth. But the call was disconnected before the caller could say if he was successful. Before the call ended, the man told the dispatcher he was going to attempt to resuscitate Champion. He also is heard ordering another man to get a defibrillator from inside the hotel.
