Former Northern Iowa star Micalla “KK” Rettinger was killed in a shooting early Sunday morning. She was 25 years old.
According to a university release and news reports, Rettinger was traveling in eastern Iowa in the wee hours of Sunday morning when she was shot. The details and circumstances of, and motives behind, the shooting appear to be hazy at best. A $6,000 reward has been offered for information leading to an arrest.
Rettinger was a a 2016 graduate of Northern Iowa, after spending her career as an outfielder for the Panthers. She was named second-team all-Missouri Valley Conference in both her junior and senior seasons, and led her team in hits, with fifty-seven, in her senior year.
“I am devastated. KK was a pretty special kid to us,” head softball coach Ryan Jacobs said in a university release. “I can still see the smile on her face and I remember the way she always thought of other people first in a genuine way. When we had youth camps, she was the one that all of the kids on campus would be drawn to. This is a huge loss to our team and everyone that knew her.”
In Rettinger’s honor and memory, a moment of silence will be held before the Northern Iowa-Iowa game Tuesday afternoon at 5:00 pm in the UNI-Dome.
