• Belcher was asleep in car shortly before killing, police dash cam video shows

    Hours before the Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher fatally shot his girlfriend, he was found sleeping in his car. Those moments were recorded by a police cruiser's dash camera. NBC's Michelle Franzen reports.

    By The Associated Press

    KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Police released video Friday night that shows officers finding Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher asleep in his car just hours before he killed his girlfriend and later shot himself.


    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.

    Police have said officers were called to Belcher's home around 7:50 a.m., after he fatally shot Perkins, whose body was found on the floor of the master bathroom with multiple gunshot wounds. Belcher and Perkins had a 3-month-old daughter, Zoey.

    Belcher then drove about five miles to the stadium, where he was met by general manager Scott Pioli and coach Romeo Crennel, whom Belcher thanked for all they had done for him. When police arrived at the stadium, Belcher moved behind a vehicle, out of clear view of officers, knelt down and shot himself once in the head, according to police spokesman Darin Snapp.

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  • Report: Belcher shot girlfriend, then kissed her forehead

    Jamie Squire / Getty Images file

    Inside linebacker Jovan Belcher of the Kansas City Chiefs watches from the sidelines during his final game against the Denver Broncos at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Miss. on Nov. 25.

    By Kari Huus, NBC News

    A detailed account of the murder and suicide by Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher published Tuesday by the Kansas City Star said that after the football player shot his girlfriend, he knelt to kiss her on the forehead and apologize before heading to the stadium where he killed himself.

    A spokesman for the Kansas City Police Department said police documents would not be released to substantiate the details laid out by veteran Star reporter Christine Vendel, but the spokesman told NBC News that "all information detailed in the KC Star report is in fact accurate."

    Belcher, 25, and his girlfriend, 22-year-old Kasandra Perkins, had been arguing about their relationship and finances, according to the Star, which reported that Belcher was out with another woman the night before he killed Perkins. It says his mother, who was living with the couple at the time, witnessed Belcher's farewell to his fatally wounded girlfriend that morning, and that he kissed three-month-old Zoey, his daughter with Perkins, and apologized again before leaving the scene.


    When Belcher arrived at the Chiefs' practice facility at Arrowhead Stadium and emerged from his car with a gun to his head, the coaches were unable to dissuade him from suicide, sources told the Star.

    According to the Star, Crennel tried to dissuade him, but Belcher said: "Guys, I have to do this."

    "I got to go," Belcher reportedly said. "I can’t be here."

    As officers approached, according to police incident reports, Belcher fired a single shot to his head. He died at a hospital.

    NBC News' Ziad Jaber contributed to this report.

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