The scene outside Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday morning was quiet and somber as media members gathered to cover the shooting at the Chiefs practice facility. Kansas City police have confirmed that Jovan Belcher, the Chiefs' 25-year old linebacker, killed his girlfriend in east Kansas City and then drove to the Chiefs practice facility where he turned the gun on himself.
Quiet, somber scene at Arrowhead after shooting
Arrowhead Stadium was the scene of a tragedy early Saturday morning.
Arrowhead Stadium neighbors Kauffman Stadium, the home of the Royals. Media members were lined up in front of the Chiefs practice facility, only a couple hundred yards away from the crime scene. A helicopter was in the air covering the scene from above.
Reporters were on their phones, trying to figure out exactly what happened that would make a 25-year old NFL player kill his girlfriend and then himself. A security guard stood in front of the entrance to the practice facility, only allowing police and Chiefs personnel inside.
The shooting took place in the parking lot in the picture above. The building on the right is the practice facility, where there are offices for some team staffers and the actual practice field behind it. In the parking lot closest to us is where employees and other staffers park. The farther end of the lot, where the shooting took place, is where the players park.
The practice facility is the equivalent of 2-3 city blocks away from the actual stadium, but the practice facility is where most of the non-game day activities take place.
Two team staffers walked past us to get into their cars, but weren’t made available to the media. Some players, coaches and other staffers were seen exiting the parking lot before 1 p.m. ET.
I tried to remember the last time I spoke to Belcher, who was known as a quiet player. He wasn't one of the interviews you had to get after the game. He didn't deliver postgame speeches that landed on SportsCenter like Eric Winston. He wasn't a star player and wasn't usually the one making a big play. He was an undrafted free agent so he didn't come in with a big reputation.
I’ve covered the Chiefs for five seasons and I have never seen a scene like the one at Arrowhead on Saturday morning.
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