Note: Watch the video above for details about the prayer service.
NEW ORLEANS, La. (KLFY) -- At least one person with Lafayette roots has died as a result of the presumed terror attack in New Orleans on New Year's Day, according to local officials.
Tiger Bech, 28, was taken to a New Orleans hospital where he died late Wednesday morning, according to Kim Broussard, the athletic director at St. Thomas More Catholic High School.
Bech played football at STM before going on to play at Princeton. He graduated from Princeton in 2021 with a degree in finance and worked as a trader at Seaport Global, a New York brokerage firm, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Broussard said he was taken to the hospital after the attack and was kept on life support until his family could arrive.
Bech, who played wide receiver, quarterback, punt returner and defensive back at STM, earned all-state honors and was a member of the All-Acadiana Regional and All-District First Team as a senior. He also lettered in lacrosse and track, leading the lacrosse team to a state title and reaching three state semifinals.
St. Thomas More held a prayer service to honor Bech's life.
Marty Cannon, the school's principal, remembered Bech as "special."
"I don't think there's ever been anybody like Tiger," Cannon said. "I don't think there's ever going to be anybody like him because, between the athlete and the depth and the character and just the way he held himself, he was a special guy."
Cannon said their school needed to do the "number one thing" for Bech and his family-pray. Some of the STM community visited the Bech family in New Orleans.
"We have some staff members that are very close with the family that have remained close," Cannon said. "Our chaplain, Father Andrew Schumacher, also went to New Orleans to be with the family, and just show support and be there for them."
"Tiger left a huge mark on a lot of us," Cannon said. "We can go on and on about how great of an athlete he was, but he was way more than that. He was a complete guy, and he was a standup guy that we really respected, honored and really liked." I can only imagine that it gives some consolation and some healing to the Bech family."
