Popular Texas volleyball coach dies in bizarre incident while sitting with friends at a rooftop bar

A high school volleyball coach was shot and killed while spending an evening at a popular rooftop bar.

Ayden Rose Burt, 28, was hit in the back by a ricochet bullet at the Smoke Skybar in San Antonio shortly after midnight Tuesday, police said.

She was a coach and teacher at Jasper ISD and was visiting the city for the Texas High School Coaches Association conference.

Officials believe the shot was fired from a random vehicle outside the bar near Interstate 37, 12 News reported.

“She was a mentor to many and so much fun to be around. She was also the best track and field coach,” one of Burt’s athletes said in a tribute on Facebook.

Burt was reportedly sitting on the rooftop of a popular downtown bar with her back to the highway when she was shot.

She was taken to the hospital where she succumbed to her injuries. Police said the shooting was random and they are working to bring justice to her family.

John Seybold of the Jasper Independent School District told SBG San Antonio that Burt was a track and volleyball coach at Jasper County High School.

Seybold said Burt was attending a dealer-sponsored event when she was killed.

She has worked for this school district for over five years and recently announced on Facebook that after her time at the junior high school, she would be teaching English to seniors and sophomores in the coming school year.

“I can’t thank the (Jasper Junior High School) family enough for the educator you have made me, for how you have helped me grow as an individual, and for the endless love and support,” Burt said.

“Working with some of my former teachers, who then became mentors and later lifelong friends, was truly a special adventure that I wouldn’t trade for the world.”

“I am excited not only about the opportunity to teach many of my former students again, but also about teaching the course that made me fall in love with literature in the first place.”

Burt was popular in the school district and community members called the teacher a “gem.”

“I will miss her. I looked forward to seeing her every day, even if it was at school or in class. She never let you down. I loved her so much, it doesn’t even seem real,” said one student.