Authorities did not release a possible
like any other Saturday for
the Kansas City Chiefs during the NFL season, their general manager and coach
at work early to put final touches on this weekend’s game plan. Then they got a
call to hurry to the parking lot.
glass doors of Chiefs headquarters and came
face-to-face with linebacker Jovan Belcher, holding a handgun to his head.
Belcher had already killed
his girlfriend and sped the short distance to Arrowhead Stadium, right past a
security checkpoint guarding the entrance. Upon finding his bosses, Belcher
thanked general manager Scott Pioli and head coach Romeo Crennel for giving him
a chance in the NFL. Then he turned away and pulled the trigger.
The murder-suicide shocked
a franchise that has been dealing with controversies now made trivial by
comparison: eight consecutive losses, injuries too numerous to count,
discontent among fans and the prospect that Pioli and Crennel could be fired at
season’s end.
Authorities did not
release a possible motive while piecing together the case, other than to note
that Belcher and his girlfriend, 22-year-old Kasandra M. Perkins, had been
arguing frequently.
The two of them left
behind a 3-month-old girl. She was being cared for by family.
The Chiefs issued a
statement that said their game Sunday afternoon against the Carolina Panthers
would go on as scheduled, even as the franchise tried to come to grips with the
awfulness of Belcher’s death.
“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 brief a statement.
A spokesman for the team
told The Associated Press that Crennel plans to coach on Sunday.
“I can tell you that you have
absolutely no idea what it’s like to see someone kill themselves,” said Kansas
City Mayor Sly James, who spoke to Pioli shortly after the shootings.

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