Tennessee Volunteers sophomore cornerback Bryce Thompson spent Saturday night in jail after being arrested on a charge of misdemeanor domestic assault following alleged threats he made during a verbal altercation with a woman at a campus dormitory, according to a police report.
Thompson told the woman he would “slap the s— out of you,” witnesses, including the hall director, told police. One of those witnesses also told police he heard Thompson threaten to “shoot up the school.”
Thompson, a freshman All-American last season, admitted to being in an argument with the woman, but he denied any physical contact or making any threats.
He was released from jail Sunday morning on $3,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in Knox County General Sessions Court on Sept. 3.
University of Tennessee athletics officials said in a statement that they were aware of the situation and “waiting for additional information while the appropriate processes take place.”
Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt is expected to address the situation Monday during his weekly press conference leading up to the Aug. 31 season opener against Georgia State
When University of Tennessee police officers arrived on the scene, they reported Thompson was “extremely upset and agitated” and that a metal gate had been detached from its hinges, damaging a wall.
Thompson initially told police he fell into the gate and fell down the stairs with it, causing the damage. Police said Thompson later recanted that part of his story and said the gate was broken as he tried to pull it upward and then fell down the stairs.
Thompson and the woman both told officers they have been in a relationship for four years. She said the argument began in Thompson’s dorm room after she found fake eyelashes belonging to someone else and that the argument then moved to the stairwell of the dormitory.
She told police Thompson “has a bad temper and has punched walls during past arguments.”
Thompson was taken into custody because, under Tennessee law, he caused the woman to “reasonably fear imminent bodily injury.”