Police say Brigham Young University football player Derik Stevenson may have played a larger role in a parking lot fight at Snow College than they thought when he pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors.

The 22-year-old linebacker and special teams player was charged by the Sanpete County attorney last week with illegal possession and use of a firearm after he shot a pistol into the air to break up a fight between his friend and another group of men.Stevenson pleaded guilty last week to possession of a dangerous weapon on school premises and to an amended charge of attempted threatening with or using a dangerous weapon in a fight or a quarrel.

But Ephraim police chief Ron Rasmussen told The Daily Herald that police are checking into aspects of the case that could indicate there was more to the incident than authorities originally concluded.

Rasmussen declined to comment on whether additional charges were possible but said the follow-up investigation was neither routine nor a formality.

"I don't want to say too much at this point," said Rasmussen. "But there are still a few different angles we're trying to clear up and some questions that have been left unanswered about prior incidents, as well as (Stevenson's) involvement in this case."

Among the aspects in question are Stevenson's eviction from a Provo apartment complex earlier this year and the ownership of the firearm he discharged.

The issue of the gun arose when Stevenson's younger brother, Peter, turned himself in to police after a fight in which he allegedly pointed a gun at another man before pointing it into the air and discharging it in a Utah Valley State College parking lot in early November.

Peter Stevenson, 18, was booked into the Utah County Jail on charges of third-degree felony aggravated assault, carrying a concealed weapon and discharging a firearm on campus.

Court proceedings have not yet concluded in that case.

Peter Stevenson was released on bail within a couple days of his arrest, but he was expelled from UVSC a short time later as a result of the incident, said Lonie Fisher, chief of the campus police department.

The younger Stevenson, who did not participate in organized athletics for UVSC, said at a school expulsion proceeding in December that he used his brother Derik's 9mm semiautomatic pistol during the fight.

The gun Derik Stevenson shot into the air at Snow College was a 9mm semiautomatic that he told police was obtained from his friend, 26-year-old Jason Tenney of Highland, Rasmussen said.

Fisher said he called Ephraim police to notify them of Peter Stevenson's case when he heard about Derik's case from the news media.

But police there did not realize the weapons were the same make until contacted Tuesday by The Daily Herald.

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"At the time, we had no reason to question it," Rasmussen said of Tenney's confession that the gun belonged to him. "We'll definitely be looking into it."

Because Tenney had no permit for the gun, police could not confirm ownership.

Derik Stevenson's student status at BYU is still under review, said Ralph Zobell, the school's sports information director.

Neither of the Stevensons could be reached for comment.

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