Friends mourn the loss of Ed Christian - WALB.com, Albany News, Weather, Sports

Friends mourn the loss of Ed Christian

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VALDOSTA, GA (WALB) -

People in Valdosta are shocked to hear about the death of a former Lowndes High School and Auburn football player.  

20-year old Ed Christian was killed Saturday night in a shooting near Auburn University.

Valdosta is mourning the loss of Ed Christian. The 20-year old local football star was shot dead in Auburn on Saturday night. His former teammate at Lowndes High School says he was shocked when he heard about Christian's death.

"He was just like family to me," said Dion Crenshaw Jr. "I really couldn't believe that this had happened. Basically, this whole town was like his family. He has got a whole bunch of brothers and sisters. He has a whole bunch of dads and moms who supported him."

Christian is number 73 in his high school football days. His friends say he made all of his teammates better.

"He was a smart, straight leader," Crenshaw said. "He knew leadership. He was that kind of guy. He would push you. He would play around with you. But, more, he was a straight forward person."

Christian saw plenty of success on the football field. Wins were very common on both his high school and college teams. He signed on to play football at Auburn in February 2010.

'Big Country', as some friends called him, was a winner. He was on the 2007 Lowndes High School football team that went undefeated and won a state championship. And while on his first year on campus at Auburn, they won a national championship. There is much more beyond a scoreboard that made Ed Christian a winner."

Police say a fight started at the University Apartments in Auburn. Crenshaw says he thinks Christian was trying to diffuse the situation.

"If he see someone fighting, he would try to break it up most of the time," Crenshaw said. "But, sometimes you try to break up a fight and people think you are in the fight trying to help somebody try to fight them."

Crenshaw says Christian was like a brother to him. We asked him what would happen if he saw the person who fired the shots.

"I would be so upset," he said. "I would be so mad. It would probably bring tears to my face. Justice should really be served on his case. Ed was a good, good person and I don't think he deserved that."

Crenshaw says the Valdosta community is rallying around Ed Christian's family during this difficult time. 

Christian played football at Lowndes High School for four years. And he started playing on the varsity team as a freshman.

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