A former NHL player and his son have apologized after the 23-year-old cruelly pushed a disabled woman’s wheelchair down the stairs of a nightclub, prompting a police investigation.
Carson Briere, a junior on the Mercyhurst University hockey team in Pennsylvania, admitted to “serious lapses in judgement” in a statement to DailyMail.com.
His father is Daniel Briere, 45, a former NHL player who scored more than 300 goals in his long career. Briere, who was named interim general manager of the Philadelphia Flyers five days ago, called his son’s actions “inexcusable.”
Shocking video shows Briere wearing a white baseball cap and seeing the wheelchair at the top of the stairs before it slides forward, picks itself up and pushes her down the steps.
The chair had been left at the top of the stairs after the woman it belonged to had been taken down to use the bathroom.
Carson Briere (pictured right), a college hockey player whose father is a former National Hockey League star and now a team executive, has sparked outrage over video of him shoving the wheelchair of a disabled woman down the stairs at a party on the weekend
Carson Briere, 23, is a junior on the Mercyhurst University hockey team in Pennsylvania, after being kicked out of Arizona State University for, in his words, “too many parties.”
A Twitter user aware the shocking video on Tuesday, writing: ‘I usually don’t post anything serious on my Twitter but something happened Saturday night and I just can’t bear the thought of this kid getting away with it. In the video below, he is a student at @MercyhurstU and currently on the @HurstMensHockey team. Carson Briere.
The user, who goes by Julia, added: “The chair was left at the top of the stairs because she physically had to take it down to use the toilets.” They are only on the ground floor.
In a statement to DailyMail.com via the Flyers, Carson Briere said: “I am deeply sorry for my behavior on Saturday. There is no excuse for my actions, and I will do my best to make up for this gross lack of judgment.
Father Daniel offered similar words of apology in a statement of his own.
“I was shocked to see Carson’s actions in the video that was shared on social media yesterday,” he said in a statement. They are inexcusable and go completely against our family values of treating people with respect. Carson is very sorry and accepts full responsibility for his behavior.
Hours after her apology, Mercyhurst released a statement, praying for the victim and reminding people to try to allow those who have made mistakes to make them right.
“Mercyhurst University has heard considerable protest regarding the social media video of student Carson Briere showing him pushing an unoccupied wheelchair up a flight of stairs.”
‘Mister. Briere issued a statement today taking responsibility for his actions, acknowledging in doing so that his behavior reflects a “serious lack of judgment” and that he is “deeply sorry.”
The video shows two young men wearing backwards baseball caps, one supposedly a Briere in the white cap, walking up the stairs to a party and briefly sitting down, talking to a couple of partygoers.
Finally, the man in the white hat is seen to be sitting in a wheelchair. He slides forward into it, stands up, and it viciously pushes him down a flight of stairs.
Briere, pictured here for Mercyhurst, came to school after being kicked out of Arizona State University.
Carson’s father is Daniel Briere, 45, a former NHL player, seen here in a game against the New York Rangers in 2011.
‘The actions shown in the video make our hearts heavy and fall short of our Mercy belief in the inherent dignity of every person. We pray for and stand in solidarity with the victim and all persons with disabilities who legitimately find actions like this to be deeply offensive.”
“Our Mercy tradition also reminds us that students and all people who make bad choices deserve opportunities to learn, change behaviors, and make amends for their harmful actions.”
Outrage was immediate on social media and within hours, the university had posted a statement on Twitter Thursday night in response to the video announcing that campus police were investigating.
On Wednesday, Mercyhurst police told DailyMail.com that the Erie Police Department had taken over the investigation. Erie Police Capt. Anthony Talarico confirmed that an investigation has been opened, but had no further comment.
The school’s hockey season had ended at the time of the incident, having finished eighth in its conference and failing to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
This is not the first time Briere has faced discipline issues on campus.
In 2019, Briere and another player were “dismissed” from the program at Arizona State University “due to a violation of team rules,” according to the Walter Cronkite Sports Network.
Briere, who has received invites in the past to the Flyers’ youth development camp, had never played for the fledgling program, having gone through the NCAA’s ‘red shirt’ process, where college athletes often don’t play for a full season to extend your eligibility.
He spent the rest of that school year playing junior hockey in Canada before transferring to Mercyhurst.
Carson Briere in action for Mercyhurst in a game against conference rivals Air Force
Started a GoFundMe and exceeded its goal of raising money for a new chair
Briere moved from a large public state school in Arizona to Mercyhurst, a small program at the 2,700-enrollment private Catholic university in Erie, Pennsylvania.
A 2021 interview on college hockey news which he titled getting a ‘second chance’ went into what Briere felt were the reasons for his dismissal.
‘I was going out; I wasn’t taking hockey seriously. It wasn’t a bad thing, I just wasn’t committed to hockey, I was more committed to having fun at school,” she said. Too much partying, that’s probably the best way to put it.
He claimed they had taught him a lesson from his experience at Arizona State that he had put into practice at his new school.
‘It made me realize that once you get to this level, it’s a job, right? It’s not just something you can do for fun,” she said. “Obviously you have to have fun while you’re doing it, I think that’s what keeps people going, but also knowing when to do things and when not to.”
‘It’s just growing up in general. I honestly think it was a great lesson for me, it helped me become a more complete hockey player and see life and everything from a different perspective.”
The victim, who owns the wheelchair, allegedly “would like to remain anonymous until legal action can be taken,” according to the Twitter user who posted the video.
TO GoFundMe has started and exceeded their goal of raising money for a new chair.
DailyMail.com has reached out to Mercyhurst and the Philadelphia Flyers for comment.