Denton Guyer mourns loss of football player in shooting incident
Football practice was canceled Monday at Denton's Guyer High School as students gathered instead to mourn Nathan Maki, a popular senior who was killed in a shooting incident Saturday night.
Maki was a starting fullback on Guyer's state champion football team. A prayer vigil was held in his honor while a makeshift memorial was created on an outer fence of the high school reading "RIP NATE #33."
"Everybody was definitely having their heads bowed and tears were flowing," family friend Peyton Barnett told local television station NBC-5. "Everybody was just holding each other and putting their arms around the family and praying."
Maki was found Saturday with a gunshot wound in a pickup truck located in a field near Bowie, Texas. He was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Students told various media outlets that Maki and a group of friends had gone hunting. Dove hunting season began Sunday in North Texas.
The Montague County Sheriff's Department is investigating the incident along with the Texas Rangers and will forward its findings to the district attorney's office.
No arrests have been made in connection with the shooting, although a 17-year-old was arrested at the scene for an unrelated charge of possession of alcohol.
Denton Guyer is scheduled to play its next game on Thursday, a home game against Colleyville Heritage.
Guyer football coach John Walsh, the father of Oklahoma State quarterback J.W. Walsh, posted this message on the team's website:
"The Wildcat Nation's thoughts and prayers go out to #33 Nathan Maki and family. Though you may not be with us physically on the field, you are in our hearts forever. We love you Nate!"
Follow Keith Whitmire on Twitter: @Keith_Whitmire
