By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2025-01-01 22:40:45 | Updated at 2025-01-04 14:25:55
2 days ago
A former Princeton football player was killed in the deadly truck attack in New Orleans as revelers rang in 2025 in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Tiger Bech, an All-Ivy League kick returner who played for Princeton from 2016-18, was one of at least 10 people who died in the attack on Bourbon Street, according to multiple reports and a post from his younger brother Jack.
He was 27.
“Love you always brother! You inspired me everyday now you get to be with me in every moment. I got this family T, don’t worry. This is for us,” Jack, a wide receiver at TCU, wrote in a post on X.
Bech, weeks away from celebrating his 28th birthday, was struck by the truck allegedly driven by 42-year-old Shamsud Din Jabbar, the man identified as the suspect. Bech suffered internal bleeding, Kim Broussard, the athletic director at St. Thomas More Catholic High School where he attended high school, told NOLA.com.
The former Princeton football player was taken to a local New Orleans hospital, where he was put on life support until his family could arrive, according to the outlet.
Bech, a Lafayette, Louisiana, native who had been working in New York as a stockbroker after graduating from Princeton in 2021 with a degree in finance, was in New Orleans for the holidays, per ESPN.
“He was just starting a successful career in the business world,” Princeton coach Bob Surace said to ESPN in an interview following the tragedy. “There were two or three times we had career nights, and you could call him with a day’s notice, and he came down and shared his experiences as a young professional with our team.”
Bech recorded 53 catches for 825 yards and three touchdowns during his three seasons with the Tigers.
After hitting a crane that had been parked on the street, Din Habbar, a U.S. citizen from Texas, was killed in a shootout with officers who had been responding to the carnage.
The FBI said several IEDs were found in the area of the attack and that it did “not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible” for what took place.
The Sugar Bowl, which was scheduled for Wednesday in New Orleans, was postponed to Thursday.
