Broncos Cornerback Killed Hours After Their Last Game

The Denver Broncos lost to the San Francisco 49ers yesterday, a loss which took the Broncos out of playoff consideration. Within hours one of the Bronco cornerbacks was killed in a drive-by shooting:

DENVER — Denver Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting in downtown Denver early Monday morning, police said.

Team spokesman Jim Saccomano said police called him about 3 a.m. from the scene of the shooting and told him three people had been shot and that Williams had been killed.

Saccomano said he spoke with coach Mike Shanahan and others in the organization.

"Complete shock. We're speechless. It takes words away. A terrible tragedy," Saccomano said.

Denver police spokesman Sonny Jackson said that a little after 2 a.m. local time, the white Hummer limousine that Williams and two others were traveling in was sprayed with bullets from a vehicle that came up along its side. All three people in the limousine were hit. They were taken to area hospitals, where Williams was pronounced dead. The other victims, a male and a female, were not identified. Hours before the shooting, the Broncos lost to San Francisco 26-23 in overtime, eliminating them from the playoff race.

I heard someone say once that nothing good happens after midnight. I'm thinking that this will turn out to be a tragic case of mistaken identity in which the shooters thought they were targeting someone else, but we'll see.

UPDATE: Further reports indicate that the player and his friends had an altercation with others at a club they had just left, and were followed and fired upon.