Investigators identified the 22-year-old man who was found dead Sunday morning after drinking in a Chico backyard as Shaun Summa.

It was Summa's first weekend in Chico, Sgt. Scott Franssen of Chico police said Monday. He was from Burbank and had just moved to town, to attend Butte College's fire academy.

About 9:30 a.m. Sunday, residents on the 800 block of West First Street called 9-1-1 after finding their friend, Summa, face down in the backyard, Franssen said. The night before they had been playing "flip cup," a drinking game that involves consuming alcohol faster than another team.

When medics arrived, they found Summa dead in a pool of vomit, he said.

Franssen said along with peer pressure, he thinks others sometimes encourage young adults to "go crazy" in college.

"Be smart," Franssen said. "Don't pressure your friends to play drinking games that make them drink quickly and to excess."

Summa's friends last saw him alive about 1:30 a.m. Sunday in the backyard, Franssen said. Detectives are unsure how he ended up on the ground.

Though an autopsy has yet to be performed, investigators strongly suspect that alcohol played a major role in Summa's death, Franssen said. There was no indication that other drugs were involved.

An occupant of the house said Monday he and other residents did not want to comment.

While flip cup is typically played with beer, the group was using hard liquor Saturday night, Franssen said.

Butte College spokeswoman Lisa Delaby said Summa's mother called the college to let staff know he would not be there.

"It's very sad news," Delaby said.

The head of Chico State University's Campus Alcohol and Drug Education Center declined to comment because Summa was not a university student.

The center, along with University Police, the health center, housing staff and more conduct mandatory training sessions called "Safe Start" for university freshman living in the residence halls, said Drew Calandrella, the university's vice president for student affairs. University staff educates students about a number of safety issues, including alcohol and drug use.

Every so often, young adults in Chico die after using alcohol or drugs, Franssen said.

"It's not something that's common but once is really all too common," he said.

If people choose to consume alcohol, Franssen said they should stop before they drink too much or make themselves sick.

"It's a completely preventable, sad situation," Franssen said. "It's completely nonsensical to me."