The circumstances of the shooting, which happened in a residential neighborhood near businesses that cater to college students, remained hazy on Sunday afternoon. The Topeka police said officers had responded about 12:45 a.m. Sunday to “a disturbance with gunshots in the area” and found Simmons dead at the scene. Ballentine was taken to a hospital in a private car.

“No arrests have been made at this time,” Gretchen Koenen, a spokeswoman for the Topeka police, said in an email. “Detectives are continuing to investigate.”

The impact was quickly felt at Washburn, whose campus is about two miles from the Kansas Capitol. Instead of a planned Sunday afternoon news conference celebrating the selection of Ballentine, a Topeka native, grief counselors were posted on campus.

“Any time we lose a student it is a sad occasion, but it is particularly poignant to lose a student through such a senseless act,” the university’s president, Jerry Farley, said in a statement. “Both Dwane and Corey have been great examples and representatives of the football team and of Washburn University in general.”

Simmons, 23, was a junior at Washburn, where he had started 17 games as a defensive back despite injuries. He was described by his coach, Craig Schurig, as “one of the most energetic and well-liked players” he had encountered.