Burress Charged; Teammate, Hospital Eyed

Cops Investigate Player, Medical Center For Failing To Report NFL Star's Accidental Shooting

(AP)  Taken to court in handcuffs, Plaxico Burress posted $100,000 bail on weapons possession charges Monday as the frenzy grew around the Giants star receiver who accidentally shot himself in a nightclub.

Authorities said teammate Antonio Pierce was being investigated over his role in the weekend shooting, while the Super Bowl-champion Giants weren't sure what action they would take, if any, against Burress. The NFL said it was monitoring developments. Mayor Michael Bloomberg also weighed in, saying it would be an outrage "if we didn't prosecute to the fullest extent of the law."

Burress shot himself in the right thigh in the VIP section of the Latin Quarter nightclub in Manhattan about 1 a.m. Saturday, police said. He did not have a permit to carry a handgun in New York.

A witness reported hearing a popping sound before Burress' legs began to shake, according to a criminal complaint. It said the person saw a bloody pistol fall out of his pant leg and land on the floor before Burress said "Take me to a hospital."

It's believed Pierce took Burress to a car and then left with him, according to police. Burress was treated at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center and released later Saturday.

Burress was charged with two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, which could result in a prison sentence of 3½ years to 15 years if he is convicted. He was not required to enter a plea Monday and is due back in court on March 31. Burress did not say anything in court.

"He is standing tall. He is a mature adult," said Benjamin Brafman, his defense lawyer. "I think any professional athlete in this situation would be concerned."

He said Burress is feeling OK. "If they let him play, he will be able to play. ... I think he will be a superstar for the rest of his career."

Originally, police had said that running back Derrick Ward was with Burress and Pierce at the club, relying on information given to them from security guards at the bar. But police said later that it was unclear if Ward was at the club, and the running back denied that he was.

The Giants have not decided what to do with Burress, who was suspended for a game and fined earlier this season for missing a team meeting in September. New York could either suspend him again or deactivate him for Sunday's game at home against the Eagles. There are more extreme actions, such as releasing Burress, but that could put a strain on the team's salary cap next season.

"We're dealing with that," coach Tom Coughlin said in a conference call Monday. "Today we had some discussions and those discussions will be ongoing."

Coughlin would not speculate what the team would do if Burress showed up for practice Wednesday.

Police have looked at security video from the club and hospital and determined that Burress arrived at 1:20 a.m. and left at 1:50 a.m. He arrived at the hospital at 2:04 a.m. and went home 11 hours later.

The shooting occurred as Burress somehow fumbled his gun - .40-caliber Glock - in the VIP section and it discharged, hitting his leg. Pierce was with Burress when that occurred, police said. The weapon was eventually recovered at Burress' house in New Jersey, authorities said.

Police expressed frustration with the NFL and Giants officials, saying they were promised that Pierce would appear at a police precinct Monday where Burress went before heading to court. But Pierce didn't show. Detectives also went to Pierce's house in New Jersey and he was not there.

Police said the Giants did send a member of their medical staff to the precinct who may be able to shed some light on what transpired the night of the shooting, and presumably to relay Pierce's version of events.

"It was a universe of silence after this shooting," said Paul Browne, NYPD Deputy Commissioner for public information.

Pierce declined to provide specifics about the incident Monday during a radio interview, but said that many facts of the case have been "misconstrued" and "distorted." He has hired an attorney but that he doesn't see himself being arrested, he said.

"Today has been a headache and that's about all I can say," he told WFAN.

The Giants released a statement disputing the police version of their involvement. "We are working closely with the police and NFL Security," it said. "In the early hours of Saturday morning, as we started to get a sense of what we were dealing with, we did, in fact, notify NFL Security, which then contacted the police."

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello also said in a statement the league was cooperating. "In addition, it will be reviewed under our league policies," he said.

The case drew the wrath of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has waged a long fight against illegal guns. He called for a full prosecution of state law that requires mandatory prison for carrying a loaded handgun.

"I don't think anybody should be exempt from that, and I think it would be an outrage if we didn't prosecute to the fullest extent of the law, particularly people who live in the public domain, make their living because of their visibility - they're the role models for our kids," Bloomberg said. Brafman urged the mayor to reserve judgment.

Bloomberg also lashed out at the hospital, based on the allegation that officials may not have properly reported the shooting. "It's just an outrage that the hospital didn't do what they were legally required to do," he said.

The hospital responded with a statement saying that officials "take this very seriously, and are conducting a thorough investigation into why this gunshot wound was not reported to the police department in a timely fashion."

Burress caught a last-minute touchdown pass in the Giants' Super Bowl victory against the New England Patriots in February, following a regular season in which he scored a career-high 12 TDs. He was rewarded with a $35 million, five-year contract.

[axomomma]

He''ll get off with a slap on the wrist and a radio commercial urging people not to do what he did because now he realizes that it was bad :(

[usclimey]

"He is standing tall. He is a mature adult," who shot himself accidently with his own illegal gun - sounds REAL mature to me.

[matrixrx2003]

What a great story !

[easeup-2009]

You can take the boy out of the ghetto but you''ll never take the ghetto out of the boy.

[yongamerica]

New York and is draconian gun laws. New York gun laws stink only second D.C. and third to Illinois. The rest of the states won''t tolerate anything that resemble these police cities and states.

[docpeter1953]

So let me get this straight ... he brought his own gun into a night club/bar and shot himself in the thigh. Am I now supposed to have sympathy for him? He broke at least one for carrying a firearm into a bar and possibly a second law for concealed carry -I am assuming that the laws in NY are tougher than here in TX.

Don''t get me wrong here, I am a NYG fan. I was thrilled when the won the SB in 2008. I am their fan when the play the Cowboys and whomever. BUT, if Burress brioke the law and is found guilty he should get maximum simply because of his professional persona.

GO NYG, GO COLTS! Would love to see the Manning brothers in the SB against eachother, just to watch Archie try to decide which one he wants to win.

[bread57]

Is there anything about the gun that makes it "illegal" besides the fact that NYC has draconian gun laws that prevent law-abiding citizens from carrying concealed firearms? (i.e. was it stolen, smuggled into the country, or sold illegally?) Drinking while in possession of a firearm is illegal everywhere as far as I know--and ought to be. But is there more to the gun''s "illegality," or is it just that Bloomberg is a paranoid gun-confiscator who allows his armed police force to protect him when he goes to official functions, but won''t allow ordinary (read "poor") people to do the same?

[questionnews]

Much like many of these overpaid & out of place gangsters, while in interviews, he refers to himself in the third person. I hate that. Anyone that refers to themselves in the third person should be shot. And him shooting himself make it that much more satisfying.

College man huh? How on earth did he get into college.

[jtepsr]

burgess broke the law and needs jail time. he carried unregisterd handgun in nyc. the giants should also let him go, they don''t need him and his image is bad for the young fans. i hope the mayor will get this done.

[questionnews]

College man huh? How on earth did he get into college.
Posted by Questionnews at 03:35 PM : Dec 01, 2008

Uh ... by playing football?????????????????????

Posted by cbs3200 at 03:46 PM : Dec 01, 2008

Don''t you have at least have measure of intelligence to pass your academic requirements to be eligible to play for a college team? Apparently his classes were on how to commit Hari kari. Maybe a ROTC course would have been a good idea.

[dbstevens]

to bread57:

The only protection people need is from the idiots who carry guns they have no business carrying. Who the hell needs to protect themselves with a gun in a nightclub? Guns don''t protect anyone, they are only used in stupid crimes and fights by morons. People who carry them do it because it gives them a misplaced sense of "power" and they are tempted to use it. Most of the creeps that hurt others (and themselves) with guns are cowards anyway.

Gun supporters who say that people need to protect themselves aren''t thinking with any sense. Bloomberg is right...this dolt Burress needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. He had NO business with that gun in that nightclub, or anywhere else.

Idiot people.

[platteman]

How do you plead not guilty to shooting your self in the leg??? That is like a woman who is pregnant, I am a little bit pregnant!!

Now either you shot yourself, or someone else shot you!! Which is it. If you shot yourself, your guilty, if someone shot you, then your not guilty.

Now it is time to tell the truth, stand up and take the punishment. That is the trouble, those with money get one kind of justice, those without get another kind.

Where he went to school and played college football has nothing to do with it. He knows the law, either he violated it, or he didn''t. There is no gray area.

[feedback3-2009]

You can take the boy out of the ghetto but you''''ll never take the ghetto out of the boy.

Posted by easeup at 03:22 PM : Dec 01, 2008
_________________________
How racist of you. I''m sure Plaxico Burress grew up in a better neighborhood than you did.

Of course that doesn''t make him any less of an idiot. Had that gun been deflected in a different direction, some innocent bystander could have just as easily been shot in the spine.

Guns and alcohol no doubt the self-defined right of the misinterpreter''s of the 2nd amendment.

[fishinfool43]

With 35 mil in his pocket, one would think he could afford a bodygaurd or 2. What kind of an example is he setting to the young people that look up to people like him. in my opinion, he should lose his contract, be banned from football, and spend some time with Michael Vick. These "professionals" should not be above the law

[bread57]

To brucestevens:

When I ask people like yourself who oppose concealed carry whether the Secret Service should carry guns to protect the President, they say "yes." When I ask if banks should be able to employ armed guards to protect their money, they say "yes." When I ask whether celebrities or corporate executives should be able to hire armed guards to protect them when they go out in public, they say "yes." So is it really that you''re opposed to armed self-defense in public places, or is it that you only want rich and powerful people to be able to do it? And isn''t that really just a form of discrimination? Why is the life of Paris Hilton or George W. Bush more important than the life of an everyday American citizen?

This man should not have been consuming alcohol while in possession of a firearm. But the idea that any municipality would render its law-abiding citizens defenseless against violent criminal predators (who don''t obey gun laws) is anathema to the basic concept of freedom.

[ludvig1-2009]

As much as I''d like to see the Giants suspend a bunch of players before the playoffs, I think this may have become a witch hunt. Cops are getting out of hand. This morning when I took my walk a senile volunteer passed me 3 times in his cop car, then a cop drove by and another cop parked his car and watched me walk laps around the park. I think we need to restore our constitutional liberties, I mean this isn''t the United States of North Korea or is it?

[downsteamjim]

I hope being ''hospital eyed'' is curable.

[noaanhc]

New meaning for the NFL

National
Felons
League


He deserves jail time and suspension from the NFL until he can prove that he is worthy enough to play professionals sports.

[bread57]

From Dltgold: "criminals dont have registered and legal firearms...they have the registered and legal firearms that they STOLE from the registered and legal owners."

True. But if they didn''t have those, they''d have ones smuggled into the country from across the border. Criminals will ALWAYS get guns. Laws haven''t stopped drugs from coming into this country, so why do anti-gun people think laws will instantly make guns go *poof* and disappear into airy-fairyland? They won''t. So if criminals will always have guns, the only rational response is to allow law-abiding citizens to have them and to carry them.

Every day in the US, between 4000 and 6000 times (1.5-2.5 million times per year), a law-abiding citizen uses a firearm to prevent a crime from occurring or to stop a crime in progress. In 99.9% of cases, the gun is not fired; merely brandishing it is enough to make the criminal run away.

Trouble is, most people%u2019s image of guns is what they see on the evening news and in the movies, both of which give a distorted perspective. Movies are obviously BS (you%u2019d think every cop kills ten people a day), and the news tends to ignore stories that aren%u2019t "dramatic." If it bleeds, it leads. Gunshots and blood and death are dramatic. A woman who defends herself and her children from a break-in by racking a shotgun and watching the guy run isn%u2019t dramatic. No shots fired=no news coverage. And so gun prejudice is born.

[oldpilot954]

When it comes to handling weapons, until the end of the Vietnam conflict, almost every young man was drafted and formally taught to use weapons. Many concealed carry permits require a safety course to be eligible. When I was young I was taught from my earliest memories to be safe with weapons -- whether that was a gun, knife, bow, or baseball bat. Safety and responsibility were part of gun ownership. There are many that still hold tho that idea. We hear about accidents or nut cases but no one ever writes about the thousands of legal, safe, and responsible fire arms owners.

[adfolder]

Maybe he was trying to draw like Barney Fife.

[osagebrave1]

Why are you people so quick to judge? According to the Constitution of the United States of America, Mayor Bloomberg is the guy who should be locked up. He passed laws that ignore the Constitution of our great country. Burress may be a dolt, but the last time I checked that isn''t against the law. You city people need to start asking why the 2nd Amendment was added into the Constitution.

[troutfisher4]

What a moron.

Not to sound racist, but why always the black athlete with guns and drugs?

[slim1h2o]

I hope being ''''hospital eyed'''' is curable.

Posted by downsteamjim

Apparently, CBS has outsourced their proof readers.

A guy from India apparently....

[dixxson-2009]

Suppose Charleston Heston was in NYC, celebrating" a school shooting, and the deaths of numerous school kids.
And while in town he drops his 44# and shoots himself in the foot! What do you think would be the possibility, probability,
of Mayor Bloomberg "RARING UP",DECLARING" This man is a pitiful Pathetic role model for our Kids. I want him "Prosecuted" TO THE FULL LETTER OF THE LAW".
"NONE, ZILCH", ZERO".
Just as with his racist murderers in Blue!
Mayor Bloomberg" Typifies, Personifies the kinds of Blatant Facetiousness" and Dishonest, IN Your Face Hypocrisy" That "INFESTS" so many in our so called
"Leadership", Today!