Tremell Murphy

DES MOINES — A Drake University men’s basketball player has been charged with an off-campus shooting that he says was accidental.

Des Moines police say Tremell Murphy was charged Thursday with discharging a firearm inside city limits and making false reports to law enforcement. Court records don’t list the name of an attorney who could comment for him.

A university spokesman says Murphy has been removed from basketball activities. Murphy was a starting forward for the Bulldogs as a junior last year.

Police say the shooting occurred the night of Aug. 31 during a party at a home near campus. Officers found a 19-year-old man bleeding from his head and noticed a bullet hole in a nearby wall, leading them to believe the shot had come from Murphy’s adjacent room. Police say Murphy first insisted the man had fallen but later acknowledged he’d accidentally fired the .22-caliber bullet.