HOUSTON (AP) — After a vehicle pursuit of Dallas Cowboys’ Marshawn Kneeland reached speeds of up to 160 mph (258 kph), a frantic search for the NFL player included Texas state troopers firing pepper balls into drainage tunnels and officers using K-9 dogs and a drone before he was found dead from suicide, body and dash cam video show.
Kneeland, 24, was found dead in the early morning hours of Nov. 6 of what police said was an apparently self-inflicted
gunshot wound, hours after being pursued by officers who had attempted a traffic stop in suburban Dallas.
At first, authorities didn't know the driver they were pursuing the evening on Nov. 5 was Kneeland, initially believing the car had been stolen. After the driver abandoned the vehicle after a crash, authorities learned during their hourslong search that the suspect was Kneeland. His family and friends feared he was going to hurt himself as he had sent messages telling them goodbye. They had frantically reached out to authorities to locate him.
A trooper with the Texas Department of Public Safety, or DPS, began chasing Kneeland, who was driving a Dodge Charger northbound on the Dallas North Tollway at 10:33 p.m. on Nov. 5, according to an offense report the agency released Friday through an open records request.
The trooper said Kneeland’s vehicle reached speeds higher than 145 mph (233 kph), but other troopers in body camera footage released by DPS said they believed the chase reached speeds of up to 160 mph (258 kph).
The trooper lost the Charger but it was later found around 10:42 p.m. after it had crashed with a Ford F-350 truck and ended up in a grassy area beside the tollway in Frisco, a suburb of Dallas. The site is near an office park area with office buildings, businesses and apartments.
An unidentified woman whose truck was hit by Kneeland’s Charger was distraught as she stood beside her damaged vehicle, according to body camera footage.
“I saw him in my rearview mirror coming as fast as he was. I was like Oh my God he’s not stopping and then he just plowed into me,” she told a trooper in footage that was also released Friday.
Troopers said the Charger was abandoned but they found an empty holster inside, leading them to believe the driver was armed.
At this point in the search, troopers and officers didn’t know who the suspect was, initially believing the vehicle might have been stolen.
During the search at the office park area, one trooper flagged down a man driving a car who indicated he had seen the suspect run off through a field.
“Take me back where you saw him,” the trooper told the driver before jumping into the man’s vehicle. But the suspect was no longer in the field.
At around 11:20 p.m., DPS troopers and Frisco police department officers were searching for Kneeland in a nearby wooded area and a series of drainage tunnels under a sidewalk.
“Frisco K-9. If you’re in this tunnel, I’m going to send my dog in here. He is going to bite you. This is your last opportunity,” the Frisco officer said.
Authorities later fired pepper balls into the tunnels and sent a drone into them but did not find Kneeland inside.
By around 1 a.m. on Nov. 6, authorities had learned the driver of the Charger was Kneeland and they had briefly detained but not charged his girlfriend, Catalina Mancera. She had driven to the scene of the search area but initially hadn't told authorities of her connection to Kneeland.
“The girlfriend has his location. But she’s not giving it to us … “She’s like, ‘He’s going to kill himself. I can’t tell you where he’s at,’” a Frisco police officer said. Authorities later said Mancera worked with officers to find Kneeland.
In other footage, law enforcement officers, while searching an area, discussed that he was an NFL player and that he had been texting goodbye to family members.
About 30 minutes later, the search ended. Kneeland’s body was located inside a portable toilet.
In a post on Facebook, Mancera said Monday she still thinks that Kneeland will walk through their front door.
“My sweet boy is really gone. The things that I would do just to hold you one more time and tell you how much you mean to me. But now I have you to watch over me and wait for me on the other side. I will see you again,” Mancera wrote.
The Cowboys have said that a memorial fund had been started to support Mancera, who is pregnant with the couple’s child.
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EDITOR’S NOTE — In the U.S., the national suicide and crisis lifeline is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org
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Associated Press writers Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Missouri, and Jamie Stengle in Dallas contributed to this report. Follow Juan A. Lozano: https://x.com/juanlozano70
