Jermaine Swearington, 23, who played football as a freshman this past year at Sul Ross, died after he was shot multiple times outside of a South Midland nightclub early Sunday morning.

Around 4 a.m., police were dispatched to Pleasures in the 200 block of South Lee Street in response to a gunshot victim.

Once authorities arrived at the scene, they said they couldn't locate Swearington anywhere. Minutes later, officials at Midland Memorial Hospital notified police that he had arrived at the emergency room.

Midland Police Department Lt. Tony Dickey told the Midland Reporter-Telegram that some friends who had gone to the club with Swearington had driven him to the hospital in their own vehicle.

Swearington was rushed into emergency surgery after having been shot multiple times in the torso and legs. He died after the surgery a few hours later at around 11:30 a.m., authorities said.

Swearington came to Sul Ross in August 2008 to play football. A friend had suggested that Sul Ross and Alpine would be a good place to start over and get away from "old friends and old haunts" of the Odessa-Midland area.

In an interview with the Avalanche in October 2008, Swearington seemed optimistic about putting his life back together.

"It's great [in Alpine], it's quiet," he said. Friendly, but reserved, Swearington talked in a straightforward manner about his past.

Swearington attended Odessa Permian High School, where he was a highly touted sophomore running back. Later, at age 20, he received his high school GED while serving a prison sentence at Diboll Correctional Center. Swearington had a son, Bra'Sean, 6.

In an interview at the Diboll prison in 2005, Swearington talked proudly about receiving his GED. He said he wanted to pursue athletics and study to become an architect. Through prayer and the support of teachers and friends, he said, he was hopeful for a new life away from prison.

As a Sul Ross State freshman running back in 2008, Swearington was selected to American Southwest Conference first team all-conference.

Anyone who saw him play last year was struck by his talent, which was head and shoulders above others on the field.

Swearington ran for 909 yards on the ground for the Lobo offense in 2008 off of 152 carries and 10 touchdowns.

Reached Monday morning in San Antonio, Sul Ross head football coach Wayne Schroeder said, "We're just devastated. Jermaine meant a lot to the guys on this team. This had the makings of an incredible success story."

Schroeder said coaches were reaching out to players in an effort to help them through the aftermath of Swearington's death.

"I saw him in the coaches' office last Monday," Schroeder said. "He was in a good mood, ready to get started on the new semester."

After Sunday morning's shooting in Midland, police collected more than 30 shell casings outside of Pleasures. Detectives believe over 30 rounds were fired from an unknown weapon.

Dickey, the Midland police lieutenant, said the shell casings belong to a 9mm gun.

Sunday morning's shooting was the result of a fight that began inside the club and moved outside to the parking lot area.

The four individuals suspected to be involved and the victim all knew each other, authorities said.

It's not believed that all 30 rounds were fired at Swearington. A vehicle in the parking lot also had multiple rounds shot into it, police said.

Swearington's body was transported to Fort Worth for an autopsy. Authorities said once it is completed they will know exactly how many times he was shot.

Pleasures is a popular after-hours nightclub that does most of its business after other area clubs have shut down at 2 a.m., Dickey said.

Officers with the MPD have been working for months to get the club closed. Because of multiple past problems at the establishment, authorities months ago filed a nuisance abatement with the Texas Attorney General's office. A hearing has been scheduled for late February on the matter.

Two 18-year-old men, Melvin Jyujean Lenard and Jesse James Johnson Jr., were arrested Sunday afternoon in connection with the homicide. Both were charged with a first-degree felony of murder; a bond of $250,000 was set for each.

Arrest warrants were issued Sunday for two other at-large individuals believed to have been involved: Timothy James Braziel and Miguel Alstaer Chatman, both 21.