The University of Maryland’s police department has opened an investigation into an altercation between two football players that occurred at the end of Tuesday’s practice.
Police said in a statement Thursday that an athletics department employee alerted an officer, who was at Maryland’s practice at the time, to the fight.
“The officer talked to both parties involved and a witness,” the university police’s statement read. “It was determined that both parties got into a verbal argument that turned physical. One of the students was treated by on-site athletics staff for his injuries. The other student sustained minor injuries, but did not seek medical attention.”
Police said they reviewed camera footage and discovered video of the altercation.
Matt Barber, a senior kicker from Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, told ESPN that he needed stitches above his right eye and dislocated his right shoulder after punter Wade Lees of Melbourne, Australia, assaulted him.
The practice was the first for football coach DJ Durkin since the University System of Maryland Board of Regents reinstated him from a months-long suspension following the death of 19-year-old Terrapins lineman Jordan McNair.
Durkin’s reinstatement was met with outrage from many, including McNair’s parents, some Maryland players and the state’s governor. University president Wallace D. Loh, who did not support the regents’ decision to reinstate Durkin, met with various campus leaders Wednesday before announcing Durkin had been fired.