Little is known about the 21-year-old former football player who shot his ex-girlfriend last Saturday morning in Vivacqua Hall.
Not even Shawn Walker’s former teammates and coaches could shed any light on his motives or personality.
They had little insight into why Walker would have attempted to kill 20-year-old Cori Miller and then turn the gun on himself.
Walker was a member of the Temple football team from 1999-2001.
He came to Temple as an academic non-qualifier after playing high school football at Deptford High School in southern New Jersey.
In 2000, he became eligible and appeared in six games on special teams.
In 2001, he was a varsity letterman and played in 11 games, recording five tackles and one interception.
He was still with the team as of Feb. 2002, at the outset of spring drills.
But by the time spring football practices had concluded, Walker was not on the final roster.
Walker’s grandmother passed away around the same time, which, according to linebackers coach Spencer Prescott, could have been one reason why he left Temple.
“He was real close to her and that was the only time I’d ever seen him down,”said Prescott, who coached Walker as a backup strong safety.
Even his head coach, Bobby Wallace, was unsure of when he left the team.
“I can’t even tell you when but it’s been over a year ago,”Wallace said.
“I haven’t seen him since.”
From there on, Walker would seldom show his face around the football facility.
Former teammate Khalee Ward, who was redshirted as a first-year junior in 2001 – Walker’s last year with the team – had never heard of him until he killed himself last Saturday.
“He didn’t come around the football office much at all, and I’d see him every now and then,”Prescott said, “(but) not recently at all.
“After he left the team, I’d see him every now and then and asked him how he was doing, whether he was going to try to come back, and he really didn’t have plans on coming back to play ball. He just wanted to try to keep his education going. But even at that point there were no real signs of any instability that I could see or that I could read.”
It was unknown when Walker and Miller had broken up.
But according to a source, Walker had been stalking her and threatening to kill himself.
He did not want to break-up with her.
“I think she just tried to stay away from him as much as she could,”said Deirdre Mattocks, a friend of Miller.
Frank Carter, Walker’s brother, who was a letterman for the football team from 1993-1996, could not be reached for comment.
His father, Carl Carter and his mother, Barbara Walker, were also not available for comment.
Walker and Miller entered Vivacqua Hall together early Saturday morning and were
engaged in a conversation.
He left the building after a while and later returned with the .38-caliber revolver he used to shoot Miller in the face and chest before turning the gun on himself.
He was pronounced dead at Temple University Hospital after a gunshot to the head.
A surveillance camera in Vivacqua Hall recorded the incident.
Luis Lumpris, a junior criminal justice major who played football with Walker, said Walker suffered from manic-depression and was receiving treatment for the condition.
Wallace did not wish to comment on his former player’s personal life
When the news hit campus, the football program was in disbelief.
“I was pretty shocked. I never saw him in that light,”Prescott said.
“I wouldn’t have fathomed that he would do anything like that. Even him being around me, the only time I ever saw him even halfway depressed was when his grandmother passed away. He was just like everybody else.”
Chris Silva can be reached at cbsrican@aol.com.
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