Miami ? University of Miami defensive lineman Bryan Pata was shot and killed Tuesday night at his apartment complex, school officials said.

The shooting occurred about two hours after the Hurricanes ended their afternoon practice.

Pata, a 22-year-old senior who grew up in Miami, was pronounced dead in the parking lot outside his apartment, and his death was ruled a homicide, Miami-Dade police spokesman Roy Rutland said.

“Right now, we’re just gathering ourselves and just trying to pull ourselves together,” Miami athletic director Paul Dee said.

Rutland said police were called at 7:30 p.m. to the scene and found Pata’s body. He lived about four miles from campus.

“Tonight the University of Miami tragically lost a member of our football family, Bryan Pata,” the university athletic department said in a release. “Bryan was a fine person and a great competitor. He will be forever missed by his coaches and teammates. We offer our thoughts and prayers to his family.”

The university also urged anyone with information about Pata’s death to call police.

The circumstances around Pata’s death were not immediately clear, and Miami-Dade police did not say who made the 911 call after the shooting.

The 6-foot-4, 280-pound lineman was in his fourth year with the Hurricanes. He appeared in 41 games, making 23 starts, and was expected to be selected in next spring’s NFL Draft.

Word spread quickly around campus, and grief counselors were quickly summoned to work with Pata’s teammates.

Annette Ponnock, Miami’s student body president, said Pata – a fierce player on the field and a somewhat soft-spoken one off it – was well known and popular on campus.

“Everyone is just more surprised than anything else,” Ponnock said. “He’s such a personality on campus. It was just really, really shocking to have such a loss. … He was a big guy so it was kind of hard to miss him. He just had a presence about him.”

The Hurricanes used Pata primarily at defensive tackle this season, and he had 13 tackles and two sacks.

Miami is supposed to play at No. 23 Maryland on Saturday. There has not been any announcement about whether that game will happen as scheduled.