Owen McKenna led the Norwich University Cadets with eight tackles over the weekend, helping lead his football team to victory over the Coast Guard in one of the season’s most anticipated matchups, dubbed the “Little Army-Navy Game” for each school’s military ties.
In a video posted to Norwich’s Facebook page celebrating the victory, which marked its 200th anniversary homecoming, McKenna, a team captain, is shown posing with a ceremonial “mug,” awarded to the victor of the rivalry game each year, alongside longtime university president Richard Schneider.
However, court records show McKenna was playing despite facing felony assault charges for his alleged involvement in what three other students described as an attack in a dorm room earlier this month that left one young man with stitches and a badly bruised eye, and two others with less serious pain but lasting fear.
Four current or former Norwich University football players, including McKenna, pleaded not guilty in Washington County criminal court on Sept. 12 to charges of burglary and assault, after allegedly charging into another student’s dorm room and beating up him and several of his friends over claims of a $5 debt.
All four were released on conditions, each facing a maximum sentence of between 25 and 40 years behind bars. The Barre-Montpelier Times Argus first reported on the alleged assault.
McKenna, 21, seems to be the only athlete of the four who played this past weekend, based on player stats and a write-up of the game on Norwich’s website. However, Connor Shea, 20, another suspect, is still on the team’s roster.
Ryan Shea, 21, remains enrolled at Norwich, and was previously on the football team, but is not currently on the roster. Mike Curran, 22, also previously on the team, is no longer on the roster or enrolled at the school, according to Daphne Larkin, a spokesperson for Norwich.
Larkin declined to say whether Norwich or its football program had taken disciplinary action against any of the accused students.
“The university does not comment on ongoing investigations,” said a statement she provided from the administration.
“Any misconduct reported to the university is investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of university policy and of the law, where applicable. The Norwich University community values honor, integrity and respect for the law as cornerstones of our culture.”
Norwich football Coach Mark Murnyack did not return a request for comment Tuesday. Derek Dunning, the university’s director of athletic communications, declined to speak about the situation. “We don’t comment about that stuff,” he said.
McKenna, of Attleboro, Massachusetts, faces a felony count of burglary into an occupied dwelling and two misdemeanor counts of simple assault, charges that carry up to 27 years in prison.
Ryan Shea, of Rockland, Massachusetts, faces the most serious charges: felony aggravated assault and burglary into an occupied dwelling, which together carry a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison.
The assaults allegedly occurred on Sept. 8 at about 1:30 a.m. VTDigger is not naming the alleged victims out of concern for their safety. They are instead described as the “student,” the “friend” and the “roommate.”
The student who ended up with the badly injured eye told police he was walking back to his dorm in Crawford Hall, when he saw Ryan Shea, a senior, tell his brother, Connor Shea, a sophomore, “that’s the guy who didn’t give you five dollars… you need to get it from him,” according to a police affidavit filed in the case.
The student said Connor Shea then came out of the room with four to five other football players, asking him about the money. The student said he repeatedly told them he never owed them any money.
After a few minutes of arguing, the student said he told Connor Shea that if he “really wants the money, he can come and get it out of my back pocket,” according to the affidavit.
At that point, the student turned to enter his room, he alleged, but Connor Shea “attacked” him and his friend from behind, shoving them into the room. The student described the following tussle to police in detail, including Shea attempting to choke him.
Once the student broke free, he said he noticed McKenna, Curran, and “several unnamed football” players enter his room uninvited and begin to assault his friend and his roommate, who had been sleeping before the fight began.
The student said Ryan Shea shoved his head into the wall, and knocked him to the ground, where he curled in the fetal position to protect himself from the punches. When he looked up, he said he saw McKenna and Curran standing over him, leading him to conclude they had been delivering the blows.
After the punches had stopped, the student said he threw five dollars on the floor, wiped his eye and noticed that his friend was also covered in blood. After the football players left the room, he asked his friend to take him to the hospital.
At the emergency room, the student rated his pain as a 7 on a scale of 1 to 10. He was treated for a “significant periorbital contusion and hematoma” of his right eye, and received two stitiches for a laceration near his eye, with a follow-up appointment scheduled to ensure he hadn’t lost any vision. He told police he feared for his safety, and is worried about further attacks from the Shea brothers.
The affidavit notes that the friend provided a similar statement, saying that once he realized the student was seriously injured, he attempted to shield him from what he estimated were eight other football players in the room, while receiving blows to the back of his head and torso.
The roommate also backed up the story, saying that he tried to call 911, but was told by Curran not to be a snitch. The roommate said he later regretted not calling.
He said the fight was a “pretty terrifying experience.” He said he was disappointed to see that the accused were in the Corps of Cadets, noting that that means they took an oath to be outstanding citizens. He said they shouldn’t be allowed in the Corps, either for being violent themselves, or for standing by and not stopping the other cadets.
“It should be noted that there is a notable size/athletic disparity between the three complainants and four alleged attackers (in favor of the alleged),” the affidavit notes. The roommate told police that several of the football players commented “you guys should lift some weights” as they were being shoved around.
All four of the alleged attackers played linebacker on the football team. Team rosters from recent years list McKenna as 5’11’’ and 216 pounds, Curran as 5’8’’ and 207 pounds, Connor Shea as 5’11’’ and 198 pounds, and Ryan Shea as 5’10’’ and 200 pounds.
When police interviewed the alleged attackers, they all had similar stories, according to the affidavit, saying that the student and Connor Shea had an argument in the hallway of Crawford Hall, and that the student had shoved Connor before they all began pushing each other.
None of the accused said they were injured, had been hit, or had hit anyone. They all denied throwing punches, but McKenna and Curran did acknowledge encouraging the roommate not to call 911. Curran said the only people in the room at the time of the incident were the four accused and the three alleged victims.
Police responding to the scene asked to see all four students’ knuckles, and noted in the affidavit that they were noticeably red.
