Now that a few days have passed, an official police report has shed more clarification on the incident outside a Columbia, Missouri pizza parlor early Saturday morning that involved three Missouri football players .
A pair of spokesmen for the Columbia police department on Monday confirmed to Columbia Daily Tribune MU beat writer Dave Matter that Blaine Gabbert , Tyler Gabbert , and Andrew Gachkar were the players involved, as was originally reported.
According to the spokesmen, the names of 12 people were included in the report, but only those of the players were being released.
The identities of the remaining nine are available only through a formal records request, police spokeswoman Officer Jessie Haden told Matter on Monday.
The police report indicated that no one involved was arrested, nor is it expected that any legal action will be pursued, despite one of the MU players apparently having sustained considerable injury as a result of the incident.
The 12 people included in the police report consist of the three players, a group of men allegedly involved, and an unspecified number of witnesses.
As the story goes, police arrived at Gumby's Pizza in downtown Columbia shortly before 1:30 AM Saturday in response to call about a disturbance that began inside a restaurant restroom.
Initial reports indicated that a verbal exchange between Blaine Gabbert, Tyler Gabbert, and Gachkar and a group of unidentified males began when one of the MU players was being harassed while in the restroom.
That scenario has since been reversed, according to Matter, who on Tuesday reported that police confirmed it was the players who were standing on the outside of the restroom.
The confrontation escalated into the restaurant's main area when, according to the players, the men started "mouthing off." A physical exchange reportedly ensued and, though brief, resulted in Tyler Gabbert suffering from a broken nose , which occurred when one of the men "sucker-punched" the freshman quarterback, an unnamed source told the Tribune.
Gachkar was said to have cut his hand on a plate during the skirmish. He later received stitches to close the wound. Gabbert will reportedly undergo surgery to repair the broken nose.
Blaine Gabbert went unharmed, though one source did say he was thrown to the ground by authorities and handcuffed. That claim has yet to be substantiated.
Noah Schmidt, a general manager at Gumby's, told the Tribune that he informed police that the MU players did not provoke the other men into fighting. Rather, Schmidt said it was impossible to determine who was to blame because of all the "confusion" at the scene.
Although no citations were handed out or arrests made, it is suspected by police that each of the men involved where experiencing some level of intoxication from alcohol at the time of the incident. Gachkar, 21, is the only one of the three players legally permitted to drink.
MU spokesman Chad Moller confirmed to the Tribune that none of the players will be suspended.
Blaine Gabbert, a 20-year-old sophomore, threw for 3,593 yards and 24 touchdowns last season in his first as the Tigers' starting quarterback. Blaine Gabbert's brother, Tyler Gabbert, 18, was one of the prized pieces of MU's 2010 recruiting class. A four-star quarterback prospect from Ballwin, Mo., he is expected to challenge for the backup job for the upcoming season after enrolling at Missouri in January.
A junior from Kansas, Gachkar was the Tigers' second-leading tackler in 2009, registering 80 in 13 games from his linebacker position.
Photo credit: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
