Former college football running back charged with murder in shooting of student

Ex-Portland State University and Division I college football running back Keenan Harpole has turned himself in to the authorities after a fellow Portland State classmate was shot and killed near the school, Portland police said Tuesday. 

The Portland Police Department identified the victim as 19-year-old Amara Marluke, according to police records. Harpole, 20, was booked was booked in the Multnomah County Detention Center on “suspicion of second-degree murder, domestic violence and unlawful use of a weapon” in connection with Marluke death.

Officers initially responded to reports of a shooting adjacent to the Portland State campus around 1 a.m. PT Monday morning, and Marluke was found dead at the scene. Marluke died from gunshot wounds and the death is being ruled a homicide, according to police records.

Harpole surrendered to authorities the following day at a family residence in Bend, Oregon.

University president Stephen Percy commented on the murder, expressing the sorrow and sympathies the president feels for everyone involved.

“I am profoundly affected by the sheer tragedy of this loss. My heart breaks for Amara’s family and for everyone who knew her. I offer my deepest sympathies,” Percy said in a statement. “To say that Amara was the light of our life would not begin to do her justice. She was an activist who worked to support those who couldn’t speak for themselves. She had a rough start to her own life, lived through the years of the foster system, and somehow still had endless capacity to love and to help others. She touched our lives and those of so many others. Her dedication to her family and friends was unwavering. That she would fall victim to a senseless and violent death is unimaginable.”

At Harpole’s arraignment on Tuesday, Marluke’s family was allowed to contribute a statement that was read in court. Some members of Marluke’s family who were in attendance asked for safety and security knowing that Harpole is behind bars.

“To say that Amara was the light of our life would not begin to do her justice. She was an activist who worked to support those who couldn’t speak for themselves,” her family said. “She had a rough start to her own life, lived through the years of the foster system, and somehow still had endless capacity to love and to help others. She touched our lives and those of so many others. Her dedication to her family and friends was unwavering. That she would fall victim to a senseless and violent death is unimaginable.”

Harpole entered an initial plea of not guilty. He was not granted bail, according to court documents.