NFL player Jovan Belcher, of Kansas City Chiefs, dead in alleged murder-suicide

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UPDATE 2: The National Football League issued the following statement: “our thoughts and prayers are with the Chiefs and the families and friends of those who lost their lives in this terrible tragedy. 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.”

And the Chiefs announced that Sunday’s football game will proceed as scheduled: “After discussions between the league office, Head Coach Romeo Crennel and Chiefs team captains, the Chiefs advised the NFL that it will play tomorrow’s game vs. the Carolina Panthers at its originally scheduled time,” a statement from the team said.

UPDATE: Statement from Kansas City Chiefs Chairman & CEO Clark Hunt: “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. 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. 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

KANSAS CITY, MO – Police says NFL player Jovan Belcher killed himself Saturday morning in an apparent suicide at Arrowhead Stadium.

Kansas City Police spokesman Officer Darin Snapp confirmed to reporters during a late morning press conference that Belcher, 25, was the man who shot himself to death just outside the stadium’s training facility, not long after police were called to a local residence where a woman claimed her daughter had been shot by her boyfriend.

Ten minutes later, police responded to Arrowhead Stadium and observed Belcher, who was talking to some team coaches, with a gun pointed to his head. At some point during the encounter, Belcher shot himself. The coaches told police they were never in danger, and that Belcher never pointed the gun at them.

The stadium was locked down for about an hour following the incident.

Snapp said police received the initial call just before 8 a.m. Saturday regarding a shooting at a residence in Kansas City.

“When we arrived a lady came out and said her daughter had been shot by her boyfriend several times inside the residence,” Snapp said. “We went into the residence, she was taken to a local hospital where she died a short time later.”

The woman who was killed has been identified as 22-year-old Kasandra Perkins. She lived in the residence with Belcher and their 3-month-old daughter.

Snapp said that ten minutes later, “we got a call here at Arrowhead stadium’s practice facility in regard to a person in the parking lot with a hand gun… when the officers were pulling up they observed a black male  with a gun to his head talking to a couple of coaches. As officers pulled up and began to park, that’s when they heard gunshots.  It appears the victim took his own life.”

The spokesman said they heard that the couple “had been arguing in the past, as far as … recently they had been arguing before the shooting occurred this morning.” However police had not been called to the residence before.

Perkins’ aunt, Debbie Sutherby, issued a statement late Saturday, saying: “our family has suffered a tragic loss. My heart goes out to my family as well as his family.”