PULLMAN, Wash. - Students gathered on the Washington State University campus Wednesday afternoon to pay their respects to a football player found dead in his apartment Tuesday.
The Pullman Police Department reported that Tyler Hilinski was found dead from an apparent suicide.
Students placed signs, flowers, and WSU flags at the base of the Cougar Pride statue to pay their respect to Hilinski. Members of the WSU band sang the alma mater at 3:15 p.m. in his memory.
The Washington State University community came together to pay their respects on Wednesday. Everyone was arm in arm and comforting each other. The gathering was coordinated by Coug band member Rick Flores. He was the first to lay out candles at the statue Tuesday night. Flores said he met with Hilinski earlier this year and only had nice things to say about him.
"He was a genuine guy, he always talk about how much the band supported the team. So I came here last night. As soon as I saw on the Die Hard Cougs page this is going on, I came here to light a few candles. A few of us in the band were here last night and sang the alma mater, but we felt like more needed to be done," he said.
ASWSU President Jordan Frost was also attend the gathering. He said there are plans in the works for a candlelight vigil some time this weekend.