Illini safety Trulon Henry shot in hand at party

Senior safety Trulon Henry, the older brother of former wide receiver Arrelious Benn, was shot in the hand at an off-campus party early Sunday and will be sidelined for the rest of the season, Illini coach Ron Zook said.Two other unidentified men also were wounded when shots were fired during a fight that broke out at the party.Henry wasn’t planning to attend the party, but went there to give a ride home to five or six teammates who wanted to leave an increasingly unruly scene, Zook said, adding that Henry was wounded when he attempted to play peacemaker.“I spoke with Trulon, he called me around 4:30 or 5 a.m. and apologized,” Zook said. “He said all he was trying to do was help. He’s a team leader, he’s trying to help, and he ended up being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”Zook said he was informed of the incident, in which shots broke out during a fight at the party, at about 3 a.m., shortly after it took place. Henry, who was shot in a ring finger, underwent surgery for the wound.“When the phone rings at that hour, you know it’s not good,” Zook said, adding that he’s not planning disciplinary action. “This is the first issue we’ve had like this, with a curfew thing. It was late. I’m not going to deny that. But most college football teams don’t normally have a curfew on Saturday night.”Henry’s brother, Benn, is the most high-profile recruit Zook has brought to Illinois. He now plays for Tampa Bay, which made him a second-round pick in 2010,Henry, 27, who lives with his wife and daughter in Champaign, played at College of DuPage before transferring to Illinois. Since serving a four-year prison sentence for the armed robbery of a bank branch in a supermarket in Washington, D.C., Henry has been a model citizen.Although it appears that Henry’s college career is over, Zook said Henry is expected to make a full recovery, which will enable him to pursue a pro career.This is the second time in three years that an Illinois football player has been wounded in a peacemaking role. Martez Wilson, a star linebacker from Simeon who now plays for New Orleans, was hospitalized in December, 2008, with stab wounds in the stomach and back after coming to the aid of former teammate D’Angelo McCray, who was being beaten outside a Champaign tavern.