Now Coach Under Fire at Northridge

A Cal State Northridge running back got caught by gunfire, which led to the Northridge coach getting caught in a lie.

Shayne Blakey, a transfer from Antelope Valley College, will redshirt this season while he heals from a gunshot wound he suffered Aug. 9 at a party, not as the result of an appendectomy, as Coach Dave Baldwin told reporters earlier this week.

Baldwin has admitted that the appendicitis story was concocted to protect the player from negative publicity.

The school announced Thursday that Baldwin would receive a letter of reprimand and that he and Athletic Director Paul Bubb would be required to “apologize to the university community.”

Baldwin has taken responsibility for spreading the erroneous information. “Regardless of what the circumstances are, I am wrong,” Baldwin said. “I’m a disgrace to myself.”

Said Bubb: “It was an error in judgment. Dave Baldwin was trying to protect [Blakey] and I don’t blame him for that. But the way he did it I don’t agree with.”

Police said Blakey was shot after an argument about a cover fee charged at a party in West Hills. No charges were filed in the case because police said some witnesses reported that Blakey might have prompted the attack by pointing a pellet gun.

Blakey denies he had a gun.

School president Blenda J. Wilson has asked the university police chief to give her an independent report on the shooting incident.