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| FILE - In this Sept. 30, 2012 file photo, Kansas City Chiefs inside linebacker Jovan Belcher (59) gestures at the line of scrimmage during an NFL football game against the San Diego Chargers in Kansas City, Mo. Police say Belcher fatally shot his girlfriend early Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012, in Kansas City, Mo., then drove to Arrowhead Stadium and committed suicide in front of his coach and general manager. |
KANSAS CITY, Mo.
(AP) -- Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher fatally shot his
girlfriend Saturday, then drove to Arrowhead Stadium and committed
suicide in front of his coach and general manager, thanking them for all
they'd done before turning the gun on himself.
Authorities
did not release a possible motive for the murder-suicide, though police
said that Belcher and his girlfriend, 22-year-old Kasandra M. Perkins,
had been arguing recently. The two of them have a 3-month-old girl who
was being cared for by family.
Belcher thanked
general manager Scott Pioli and coach Romeo Crennel before shooting
himself in the parking lot of the team's practice facility, police
spokesman Darin Snapp said. Police had locked it down by mid-morning and
reporters were confined to the street just outside the gates.
The
team said it would play its home game against the Carolina Panthers as
scheduled on Sunday at noon local time "after discussions between the
league office, Head Coach Romeo Crennel and Chiefs team captains."
A spokesman for the team told The Associated Press that Crennel plans to coach on Sunday.
Belcher
was a 25-year-old native of West Babylon, N.Y., on Long Island, who
played college ball at Maine. He signed with the Chiefs as an undrafted
free agent, made the team and stayed with it for four years, moving into
the starting lineup. He'd played in all 11 games this season.
"The
entire Chiefs family is deeply saddened by today's events, and our
collective hearts are heavy with sympathy, thoughts and prayers for the
families and friends affected by this unthinkable tragedy," Chiefs
chairman Clark Hunt said in a statement.
"We
sincerely appreciate the expressions of sympathy and support we have
received from so many in the Kansas City and NFL communities, and ask
for continued prayers for the loved ones of those impacted," Hunt said.
"We will continue to fully cooperate with the authorities and work to
ensure that the appropriate counseling resources are available to all
members of the organization."
The NFL released
a statement that also expressed sympathy and said, "We have connected
the Chiefs with our national team of professional counselors to support
both the team and the families of those affected. We will continue to
provide assistance in any way that we can."
Authorities
reported receiving a call Saturday morning from a woman who said her
daughter had been shot multiple times at a residence about five miles
from the Arrowhead complex. The call came from Belcher's mother, who
referred to the victim as her daughter, leading to some initial
confusion.
"She treated Kasandra like a
daughter," Snapp said. Belcher's mother, who is from New York, had
recently moved in with the couple, "probably to help out with the baby,"
Snapp said.
Police then received a phone call from the Chiefs' training facility.
"The
description matched the suspect description from that other address. We
kind of knew what we were dealing with," Snapp said. The player was
"holding a gun to his head" as he stood in front of the front doors of
the practice facility.
"And there were Pioli
and Crennel and another coach or employee was standing outside and
appeared to be talking to him. It appeared they were talking to the
suspect," Snapp said. "The suspect began to walk in the opposite
direction of the coaches and the officers and that's when they heard the
gunshot. It appears he took his own life."
The coaches told police they never felt in any danger, Snapp said.
"They
said the player was actually thanking them for everything they'd done
for him," he said. "They were just talking to him and he was thanking
them and everything. That's when he walked away and shot himself."
At
Belcher's mother's home on Long Island, relatives declined to talk to
reporters. A purple SUV in the home's driveway was flying a small Kansas
City Chiefs flag.
Perkin's Facebook page shows the couple smiling and holding the baby.
"His
move to the NFL was in keeping with his dreams," said Jack Cosgrove,
who coached Belcher at the University of Maine. "This is an
indescribably horrible tragedy."
Belcher is
the latest among several players and NFL retirees to die from
self-inflicted gunshot wounds in the past couple of years. The death of
the beloved star Junior Seau, who shot himself in the chest in at his
California home last May, sent shockwaves around the league.
Seau's
family, like those of other suicide victims, has donated his brain
tissue to determine if head injuries he sustained playing football might
be linked to his death.
Belcher did not have
an extensive injury history, though the linebacker showed up on the
official injury report on Nov. 11, 2009, as being limited in practice
with a head injury. Belcher played four days later against the Oakland
Raiders.
Earlier this year, the NFL provided a
grant to help establish an independently operated phone service that
connects players, coaches, team officials and other staff with
counselors trained to work through personal and emotional crises. The
NFL Life Line is available 24 hours a day.
Kansas City Mayor Sly James said that he spoke to Pioli after the shooting.
"I
can tell you that you have absolutely no idea what it's like to see
someone kill themselves," James said. "You can take your worst nightmare
and put someone you know and love in that situation, and give them a
gun and stand three feet away and watch them kill themselves. That's
what it's like.
"It's unfathomable," James
said. "It's something you would love to wash away from your mind, but
you can't do it. There's nothing like it. I don't what else to tell you.
Think about your worst nightmare and multiply it by five."
The
season has been a massive disappointment for the Chiefs, who were
expected to contend for the AFC West title. They're just 1-10 and mired
in an eight-game losing streak marked by injuries, poor play and fan
upheaval, with constant calls the past several weeks for Pioli and
Crennel to be fired.
The Twitter account for a
fan group known as "Save Our Chiefs" recently surpassed 80,000
followers, about 17,000 more than the announced crowd at a recent game.
The group was organizing a "Can Scott Pioli" food drive for Sunday that
has since been canceled.
