A Jacksonville Jaguars player is hospitalized with life-threatening injuries following a shooting early this morning.

Richard Collier, 26, an offensive tackle in his third year with the Jaguars, was shot about 2:45 a.m. while sitting in a vehicle parked in the 2300 block of Riverside Avenue, said Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office spokesman Ken Jefferson.

Jefferson said Collier and former Jaguars player Kenneth Pettway had been out clubbing in the San Marco area when they met two women. The two men followed the women to Riverside near St. Vincent’s Medical Center, police said, with the plan to drop the females’ vehicle off and continue socializing in one vehicle.

While waiting outside the Riverside apartment, Jefferson said, someone walked up to the Cadillac Escalade and fired off a number of shots striking Collier, who was behind the wheel. Pettway was not injured in the attack.Police removed the Escalade, which had one bullet shot through the driver’s side of the windshield. The windshield of a Honda parked nearby had been shattered in two places, but that vehicle was not removed.

Jefferson said it was unknown if there was one or multiple assailants. Authorities said they did not know of a motive for the shooting.

Jefferson said the two women “appeared shocked” by the shooting. He said authorities did not know if the two men were involved in any altercation or incident earlier in the night or if the shooting was random and not connected to the two players personally.

A man interviewed outside the apartment Tuesday morning said one of the women is his fiancee. They’re 22 and 26 years old, but the Times-Union is not identifying them because the shooter or shooters remain at large. The man, who was at work overnight, said he wasn’t certain what club the women visited. He said they know someone involved with promoting events involving Jaguars players and speculated that they might have gone clubbing at such an event.

The women were questioned by police and returned to the apartment building shortly after 9 a.m. One walked into the building without responding to a shouted call to her, and a few minutes later the other declined to talk to reporters as she left the building.

A resident of a neighboring apartment building, Wade Garner, said he thought he had seen the Escalade parked in the area about 1 a.m.

The shooting comes after veteran running back Fred Taylor addressed the team about his disorderly conduct charge Friday night when he cursed an officer outside a nightclub. Following several arrests of Jaguars players over the last couple of years, Taylor had recently spoke about the importance of players not partying too much.

The Jaguars have had 13 off-the-field incidents involving the law since September 2006 and all but one occurred during the late night/early morning hours.

In November 2007 Collier was arrested by Jacksonville police for driving under the influence. He was suspended by the team for two games but signed a contract extension in May. His license was suspended in June for six months.

Collier is listed by the Jaguars as a 6-foot-7, 345-pound offensive tackle and was expected to play this season on special teams as well as on the offensive line. The Louisiana native was undrafted out of Valdosta State and made the team as a rookie in 2006.

Wayne Weaver, owner of the Jaguars, released a statement just after noon: “We’re shocked and deeply saddened by this morning’s news about Richard Collier. We have been informed that Richard has had surgery and he’s in critical but stable condition. The entire Jaguars family is praying for Richard and his family at this time.”

Pettway, a backup defensive end, was released by the Jaguars on Saturday after several seasons with the team.

Police said Jaguars officials have been contacted but have not released a statement yet. As of 7:10 a.m., a nursing supervisor at Shands Jacksonville said there was no update on Collier’s condition.

Traffic along the 2300 block of Riverside was blocked off for several hours but police opened the road to normal traffic about 6 a.m.

Anyone with information can contact the Sheriff’s Office at (904) 630-0500 or First Coast Crime Stoppers at (866) 845-8477 (845-TIPS) to remain anonymous and be eligible for rewards.

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