Tyler Honeycutt, a former basketball player for the UCLA Bruins and Sacramento Kings, died on Friday night after a gunfire exchange with police officers in Los Angeles. He was 27.
Us Weekly reported that multiple sources confirmed the death by suicide. Honeycutt allegedly barricaded himself inside a Sherman Oaks residence on Friday afternoon, and police arrived after receiving a call from his mother.
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“As they were communicating with the suspect he fired out of the residence and the officers returned fire,” LAPD public information officer Josh Rubenstein told Us Weekly. “… No officers were injured and it was unknown if the suspect had been struck by the officers’ gunfire.”
A crisis negotiation team was brought in as roughly 30 residents were evacuated from the surrounding area. A SWAT team entered the residency at approximately 2:30 a.m. to find Honeycutt’s unresponsive body.
“SWAT entered the residence & located an unresponsive male,” the LAPD twitter account wrote in an update on the scene. “LAFD responded & pronounced the male dead at the scene.”
The account gave another update early Saturday afternoon, reporting that Honeycutt’s gunshot wound appeared to be self-inflicted.
“Regarding last nights Officer-Involved Shooting in Van Nuys Division, it appears as if the suspect was not struck by any officer’s gunfire,” the account wrote. “The suspect appears to have sustained injuries consistent with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.”
Born in Sylmar, California, Honeycutt played two seasons for the UCLA Bruins college basketball team from 2009-11, earning team co-MVP and All-Pac-10 honors in his sophomore season before declaring for the NBA Draft.
The Sacramento Kings drafted him in the second round of the 2011 draft, and he was assigned to the NBA D-League (developmental league) on multiple occasions before being traded to the Houston Rockets in February 2013 and waived by the team.
He spent a season playing for the D-League’s Rio Grande Valley Vipers before moving overseas to play for the Ironi Nes Ziona team in the Israeli Super League. He spent the final four years of his career playing with various European teams in two stints with the Khimki club in Russia and a year with the Turkish team Anadolu Efes.
Several basketball players took to social media following to the news of Honeycutt’s passing to give their condolences.
“Hurt by the new, glad no one else was injured, but ultimately sad to say, rest in peace my basketball brother tyler honeycutt,” New Orleans Pelicans player Solomon Hill wrote.
“RIP Tyler Honeycutt,” Golden State Warriors player DeMarcus “Boogie” Cousins wrote. “Prayers up for his family and friends. Rest easy bro!”
The EuroLeague, where he played during his tenure with Anadolu Efes and Khimki, released a statement on Twitter writing, “The Euroleague Basketball family expresses its sadness on the untimely passing of Tyler Honeycutt and offers condolences to his family, friends, teammates, coaches and many fans. May he rest in peace.”
Photo: Getty Images/Jon Izarra/EB
