UVU soccer player arrested for shooting 3 BYU students with a BB gun

A Utah Valley University soccer player has been arrested for shooting three BYU students with a BB gun.

James A. “Jamie” Dunning, 18, was booked into the Utah County jail for investigation of three counts of aggravated assault on Tuesday, two days after he reportedly fired the gun from a moving car on the Brigham Young University campus.

According to a probable cause statement, Dunning was a passenger in a car driving past the Helaman Halls dorms shortly after 10 p.m. Sunday. Several shots from a CO2 BB gun pistol were fired at a group of students, striking three of them.

One of the victims was struck in the side of his head and required medical attention to remove the BB.

According to BYU police, Dunning was one of five people inside the vehicle. Each of the other four told police Dunning owned the BB gun and fired the shots through an open window of the car.

The driver of the car told police he “yelled at Dunning and told him to stop,” but “Dunning was indifferent … and not concerned by any possible injuries” he “may have caused.” Another passenger told police Dunning had fired the gun at him earlier that evening, “breaking the skin and causing the wound to bleed.”

According to the probable cause statement, the driver returned to the area where the shots had been fired and learned that at least one person had been wounded by the BB gun. Despite expressing concern, the driver left the area with his passengers because “Dunning did not want to report the incident.”

BYU police wrote that Dunning admitted he owns the BB gun, that he fired it at “several groups of people at Helaman Halls,” and that he knew at least one person had been wounded, but he did not want to report it to police.

UVU officials confirmed that Dunning was a member of the school’s men’s soccer team. According to a university spokesman, Dunning has been suspended from the team “while the investigation runs its course.”

Dunning, who has dual American and Canadian citizenship, played for both country’s U-15 and U-17 national teams. He was also a member of FC Dallas' academy team before playing for two Dutch clubs.