A Lafayette native and former St. Thomas More football player is among the 14 people killed in the presumed terror attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day, according to officials.

Tiger Bech, 27, 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 wide receiver, quarterback, punt returner and defensive back at STM before going on to play football at Princeton University. He graduated from Princeton in 2021 with a degree in finance and worked as a trader at a New York brokerage firm, according to Broussard. He was in New Orleans for the holidays.

Broussard said Bech was hit by the terror suspect's truck and suffered catastrophic internal bleeding. He was kept on life support until his family could arrive.

Bech earned all-state honors while at STM and was a member of the All-Acadiana Regional and All-District First Team as a senior.

Bech is the older brother of former LSU and TCU wide receiver Jack Bech, who posted Wednesday about his brother's death on X. 

"Love you always brother! You inspired me everyday now you get to be with me in every moment. I got this family T, don’t worry. This is for us.'

Bech was a first-team All-District and All-Acadiana performer for STM in 2014. The versatile athlete collected 1,646 total yards and 19 touchdowns — including 630 rushing yards and five TDs, 874 passing yards and 11 scores and caught eight passes for 142 yards and three more scores.

During his three-year career at Princeton, Bech caught 53 passes for 825 yards and three touchdowns.

On Wednesday afternoon, friends gathered for a memorial in Bech's honor in the school's chapel.

Trevor Begue, who played wide receiver along with Bech at STM, and former STM assistant coach and current principal Marty Cannon both met with Bech during his holiday visit back home.

“Tiger was one of a kind,” Cannon said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone that could do things on a football field that Tiger could do. I’ve seen a lot of good ones at St. Thomas and I’ve seen a lot when I was playing college football (at UL).

"Tiger could do things that were just unexplainable for that body type and that short stature, but all that power.”

Begue remembers Bech as an unselfish teammate.

“He was a great player and a great person,” Begue said. “We all looked up to him. He was the leading receiver in that room. He made everything look so effortlessly. He was a willing teacher, because I didn’t play that position at first.

“I was a running back. ... He brought me up his wing and really taught me the position. He was a really humble guy.”

Cannon’s memories of Bech’s impact, though, ranged far beyond his athletic ability.

“I just got here his senior year,” Cannon said. “Throughout that year, I got to know Tiger and I found this tremendous depth to him and this maturity.

"What may look sometimes as overconfidence to some and maybe even arrogance was really just this deep, deep person that you just get attracted to. He was just such a special guy."

Because of his younger brother Jack’s exploits, Cannon and his former coaches and teammates saw Bech fairly often over the years for someone who worked so far away.

“I’m very thankful for the time I got to know him,” Cannon added. “When he went off to Princeton, he would often come back to watch Jack play and he would always come swing by and say hello to me.

“He touched my life for sure, so when I found out this morning, I was crushed. It was rough.”

Editor's note: This story was updated to reflect the latest death toll is 14 people killed plus the attacker. 

Email Kevin Foote at kfoote@theadvocate.com.