Pelicans' Bryce Dejean-Jones shot, killed after 'inadvertently' enterring apartment

Dejean-Jones suffered a gun shot wound to his abdomen early Saturday morning after he broke into a Dallas apartment

New Orleans Pelicans guard Bryce Dejean-Jones died Saturday, the team confirmed. He was 23.

Dallas police said Dejean-Jones suffered a gunshot wound to his abdomen after he “kicked open the front door” to a Dallas apartment around 3:20 a.m.

The man in the apartment woke up, grabbed his handgun and "called out" to see who was there, according to police, but didn't receive an answer. Dejean-Jones then broke through the door of a bedroom and the man fired his gun, police said. Wounded, Dejean-Jones ran into the building's breezeway, where he collapsed.

He died later at a hospital.

ESPN.com reported Dejean-Jones "inadvertently" entered the apartment he errantly believed to be the residence of his child's mother.

“It is with deep sadness that the Pelicans organization acknowledges the sudden passing of Bryce Dejean-Jones," the Pelicans said in a statement Saturday afternoon. "We are devastated at the loss of this young man’s life who had such a promising future ahead of him. Our thoughts and prayers are with Bryce’s family during this difficult time.”

Dejean-Jones played college basketball at Southern California, UNLV and Iowa State before going undrafted in 2015. He started last season in the NBA D-League but played well enough to earn a midseason call-up and an eventual starting job for the injury-stricken Pelicans.

The 6-6 guard averaged 5.6 points and 3.4 rebounds in 19.9 minutes over 14 NBA games (including 11 starts) before a wrist injury ended his season in February. But he impressed with his 3-point shooting and defensive ability.