A former NFL defensive back and college football standout was shot and killed during a parking dispute in Colorado, a sheriff’s office official said Monday. Anthony "T.J." Cunningham, 46, who was also the assistant principal at Hinkley High School in Aurora, was shot multiple times, Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Deborah Sherman told the Denver Post. FORMER TEXAS, NFL PLAYER VINCE YOUNG ARRESTED ON DWI CHARGES Marcus Johnson, 31, was being held on a first-degree murder charge Sunday. Johnson, who lived across the street from Cunningham, told investigators the former football player attacked him earlier that Sunday, officials said. The two then met at Eaglecrest High School to settle their fight and only the suspect brought a gun, officials said. Officials said the gun was recovered. Cunningham played three seasons at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He played both wide receiver and defensive back. In his final season, he recorded two interceptions. He was later drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the sixth round of the 1996 NFL Draft. After playing nine games, he was forced to end his career due to injuries. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP University of Colorado athletic director Rick George released a statement on Cunningham, saying he was a “good family man,” according to the Denver Post. The Associated Press contributed to this report.<doc-sep>A former Seattle Seahawks player was fatally shot by his neighbor after a text-fueled parking dispute, authorities in suburban Denver said Tuesday. Anthony "T.J." Cunningham, 46, died from his wounds Monday and neighbor Marcus Johnson was booked on suspicion of murder, following from the deadly conflict Sunday in Aurora, Colorado, about 20 miles outside Denver, officials said, “It was ongoing dispute and early in the morning they had a physical altercation, parking related," Arapahoe County Sheriff's spokeswoman Deborah Sherman told NBC News on Tuesday The men lived a short walk away from Eaglecrest High School where the men met again, in the campus driveway, on Sunday morning. "So the argument continued over text and it was said, 'Let's just settle this at the school,' and one of them brought a gun," Sherman said. Marcus Johnson was arrested in connection with the shooting death of Anthony "T.J." Cunningham in Aurora, Colorado. Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office Cunningham and Johnson, 31, lived across the street from each other, and the exact details of their parking feud were not immediately clear. "It was crazy: They were texting each other, so they know each other," Sherman observed. A passerby called 911 at about 9:20 a.m. MT after seeing the mortally wounded Cunningham in the street, and Johnson even phoned in a short time later, officials said. "Minutes after the first call, we received a second call — from the suspect, 'I just shot my neighbor. He assaulted me earlier in the day' and then he indicated he was going home," Sherman said. "So we responded to the scene and to his [Johnson's] home and he gave himself up." Johnson was originally booked for attempted murder but that charge was upgraded after Cunningham died on Monday, jail records showed. T.J. Cunningham was a tremendous part of the CU community and touched countless others beyond Boulder “We were deeply shocked and saddened to learn of the death of T.J. Cunningham. He was a good family man and had a strong passion for working with young people." pic.twitter.com/LKsgivdQ81 — Colorado Buffaloes (@cubuffs) February 18, 2019 Cunningham played college football at the nearby University of Colorado. He was a safety and played one season, in 1996, for the Seahawks. “We were deeply shocked and saddened to learn of the death of T.J. Cunningham," CU Athletics Director Rick George said. "He was a good family man and had a strong passion for working with young people." Cunningham was an assistant principal at Hinkley High School, about 12 miles from where he died. Johnson made a brief appearance in court on Tuesday when he was formally advised of the murder charge against him, officials said. A judge ordered him held without bail, until at least his next hearing, scheduled for Friday. It was not known if he hired a lawyer yet on Tuesday.<doc-sep>Bernstein Associates/Getty Images Former Seattle Seahawks safety T.J. Cunningham died Sunday at the age of 46. According to Melissa Alonso of CNN, police said Cunningham was shot and killed by 31-year-old Marcus Johnson after a dispute over a parking spot in Centennial, Colorado. Johnson was arrested on suspicion of first-degree attempted murder. Cunningham played for the Seahawks in 1996 after a standout collegiate career at the University of Colorado. The Seahawks selected Cunningham with the 209th overall pick in the sixth round of the 1996 NFL draft. He appeared in nine games during his first and only NFL season and recorded one fumble recovery before a knee injury cut his career short. The Colorado Buffaloes' tweeted the following in remembrance of Cunningham: Per Fox31 Denver KDVR, Cunningham served as an assistant principal at Hinkley High School in Colorado following his retirement from the NFL. TMZ Sports noted Cunningham is survived by his wife and five children.<doc-sep>Getty Images T.J. Cunningham, a sixth-round pick of the Seattle Seahawks in the 1996 NFL Draft, was shot and killed in a dispute over a parking spot in Aurora, Colo. According to the Associated Press, Cunningham, an assistant principal at Hinkley High School in Aurora, was shot in a parking lot between two schools. Police have arrested 31-year old Marcus Johnson and have charged him with first-degree murder for the shooting. Per 9NEWS, Cunningham and Johnson were neighbors and had an ongoing dispute over the parking spot which included taunts via text messages and a physical altercation over the weekend prior to the shooting. Cunningham was the 209th overall selection of the 1996 NFL Draft. Former Green Bay Packers Pro Bowl guard Marco Rivera was selected with the pick immediately before Cunningham’s selection. He played in nine games as a rookie before a knee injury ended him season. He was placed on the physically unable to perform list the following season before being released by the Seahawks.<doc-sep>
Anthony "T.J." Cunningham also played wide receiver and defensive back at the University of Colorado. (CNN) — Anthony “T.J.” Cunningham, a former Seattle Seahawks player and assistant principal at a Colorado high school, has died after being shot during a parking dispute, the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office said. Cunningham, 46, an NFL safety during the 1996 season, was shot by a neighbor early Sunday and taken to a hospital, where he died the next day, the sheriff’s office said via Twitter. The neighbor, Marcus Johnson, 31, was originally held on attempted murder charges, but the charges were amended to first-degree murder after Cunningham’s death, authorities said. It’s not clear whether Johnson, who is being held without bond, has an attorney. Cunningham texted Johnson hours before the shooting, sheriff’s spokeswoman Deborah Sherman told CNN. “It was a dispute that morning, they were texting back and forth, and then they said let’s settle this at the school,” she said. The shooting occurred in the parking lot of Eaglecrest High School in Aurora, where deputies found Cunningham with gunshot wounds, according to a probable cause document. After the shooting, a sheriff’s officer said, Johnson called deputies to say that he had shot his neighbor. The handgun was in his car. Witnesses told investigators the two men had had an “ongoing parking dispute,” according to the officer. Cunningham’s brother told investigators he accompanied the former player to the parking lot, where the two neighbors were to “box it out,” referring to their dispute. Their homes are about a mile from the school. Cunningham and Johnson walked toward each other, yelling obscenities, the court document said. Johnson, who said Cunningham had a bottle, shot him three time in the head and chest, according to the document. Cunningham’s brother told investigators the former NFL player was unarmed. Cunningham was pronounced dead Monday afternoon. Aurora Public Schools said in a statement, “We are deeply saddened to learn that one of our assistant principals, Anthony (TJ) Cunningham passed away.” Counselors were available at Hinkley High School, where Cunningham worked, throughout the week, the statement said. Cunningham played wide receiver and defensive back at the University of Colorado. He was the 209th overall pick in the 1996 NFL draft by Seattle, according to the Seahawks website. T.J. Cunningham was a tremendous part of the CU community and touched countless others beyond Boulder “We were deeply shocked and saddened to learn of the death of T.J. Cunningham. He was a good family man and had a strong passion for working with young people." pic.twitter.com/LKsgivdQ81 — Colorado Buffaloes (@CUBuffs) February 18, 2019 The Colorado Buffaloes said on Twitter that Cunningham was “a tremendous part of the CU community and touched countless others beyond Boulder. “We were deeply shocked and saddened to learn of the death of T.J. Cunningham. He was a good family man and had a strong passion for working with young people.” CNN’s Melissa Alonso contributed to this report.