Police Release Video Of Jovan Belcher Just Before Murder-Suicide
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Police on Friday night released video showing officers finding Kansas City Chiefs linebacker and Long Island native Jovan Belcher asleep in his car, just hours before he killed his girlfriend and later committed suicide.
The recording was among two dashboard videos made available by police nearly a week after the murder-suicide. The second video shows an officer responding to Arrowhead Stadium, where Belcher shot himself in front of team officials shortly after killing Kasandra Perkins at their home on Dec. 1.
The first video shows officers finding Belcher asleep in his parked car around 3 a.m. that day outside an apartment complex. Officers talk to him, and he identifies himself as a Chiefs player.
Police said he was cooperative and told officers he was there to visit a woman he described as his girlfriend but that she wasn't home. The video shows Belcher later stepping out of his car and thanking officers, saying he's going to go upstairs.
Police have said a woman allowed Belcher into the building, though she wasn't identified.
The second video begins around 8 a.m. from the dashboard of a patrol car speeding to the stadium. Officers can be heard over the police radio confirming there had been a shooting connected to Belcher, and later that there was an armed suspect at the stadium.
The video shows the police vehicle arriving at a stadium parking lot and the officer stepping out, asking over his radio that other responding officers cut off their sirens, which can be heard in the distance.
"I've got a sighting from afar, it looks like they're in a negotiation --- I need a rifle asap," the officer says as he walks toward the parking lot. "I'm at the south side. I'm at the main entrance, trying to sneak up on foot."
The video cuts off seconds later.
Belcher, a native of West Babylon, Long Island, fatally shot Kasandra Perkins, 22, at their Kansas City home on Dec. 1, before shooting himself in the head in the Arrowhead Stadium parking lot in front of team officials who were trying to stop him, including general manager Scott Pioli and head coach Romeo Crennel.
Police Sgt. Richard Sharp told The Kansas City Star that the couple had been arguing over relationship and financial issues for months, and that the team had been "bending over backward" trying to help them. Sharp didn't specify how long the couple had been undergoing counseling.
When Belcher arrived at Arrowhead on Saturday, he encountered Pioli in the parking lot and told him that the assistance the team had offered hadn't fixed the couple's problems and now "it was too late," Sharp said.
Pioli tried to persuade Belcher to put down his gun as Crennel and linebackers coach Gary Gibbs arrived at the scene.
Belcher thanked the men for everything the team had done for him and asked if Pioli and team owner Clark Hunt would take care of his daughter, The Star reported.
After that, Belcher reportedly said, "Guys, I have to do this."
"I was trying to get him to understand that life is not over," Crennel said Monday. "He still has a chance and let's get this worked out."
When Belcher heard police sirens approaching, he knelt behind a vehicle and shot himself in the head.
The Chiefs played on Sunday in wake of the tragedy, beating the Panthers, 27-21.
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