Iowa State football player Robert Lewis was discharged from Mary Greeley Medical Center Wednesday after he was stabbed in the chest early Sunday morning in Fort Dodge.

Lewis, along with other ISU football players including Darren Davis, were at the Laramar Ballroom in Fort Dodge attending a concert celebrating Black History Month.

The stabbing occurred when Lewis tried to be the “peacemaker” and assist Darren’s older brother Troy Davis, a former ISU football player who now plays for the New Orleans Saints in the National Football League, during an altercation outside the ballroom.

“He was just trying to get Troy out of there, from what we can tell,” said Fort Dodge Police Capt. Doug Utley.

Lewis, sophomore in animal science from La Marque, Tex., was at the Laramar Ballroom with Troy Davis and Darren Davis, Troy’s younger brother and current ISU football player, along with a few other football players, Utley said.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Utley said the department had no names of possible assailants, but that it is still investigating the case and conducting interviews.

He said the ballroom event was peaceful until a shoving match began inside.

“Just within minutes of the actual quitting time of the event a shoving match had ensued among some people,” Utley said.

Although the people involved were unidentifiable at the time of the incident, Utley said, “Troy Davis and Darren Davis and several friends from the Ames area” became involved in the confrontation.

Utley said the indoor altercation was short-lived due to police intervention. Officers had everyone leave the building, but confrontations continued outside.

“Because of the skirmishes, officers warned the group to dissipate or they would throw tear gas,” he said.

He said the commanding officer set off a smoke canister intended to imitate the appearance of tear gas, but that did not disperse the crowd. He then used tear gas, at which point the crowd did leave.

“The Fort Dodge Police Department at that time was unaware of any stabbing,” Utley said. “We were not notified until close to an hour after the incident.”

He said Lewis and his friends did not know where the hospital was in Fort Dodge, so they started back toward Ames until they saw the sign for the Hamilton County Hospital in Webster City. Lewis received treatment there and was later transported to Ames by ambulance.

No one else was injured in the altercation, he said.

“We’re really happy with the efforts by the event people and owners of the establishment to assist law enforcement in not letting this get totally out of hand,” Utley said. “Police intervention on the outside helped it from getting more serious.”

The investigation into the stabbing is still ongoing. “Right now, we just have to follow up all the leads,” he said. “Right now, we don’t have any definite suspects.”

Lewis and the ISU Athletic Department denied to comment further on the stabbing.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the Fort Dodge Police at (515) 573-1426.