Cops Confirm Junior Seau's Death Is Suicide Investigation

Handgun is found nearby
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted May 2, 2012 3:30 PM CDT
Cops Confirm Junior Seau's Death Is Suicide Investigation
Luisa Seau, mother of former NFL football player Junior Seau, is comforted as she grieves in the driveway of her son's home in Oceanside, Calif.   (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

The details are filling in on the death of NFL great Junior Seau at age 43. These from the San Diego Union-Tribune, AP, and TMZ.

  • Suicide: San Diego police confirm it's a suicide investigation. Seau's girlfriend called 911 about 9:30am after she found him unconscious inside a bedroom. He apparently shot himself in the chest with a handgun.
  • His mother: Luisa Seau had a heart-wrenching breakdown before the media. "Junior!" she cried. "Why didn't you tell me you were going." She said her son joked with her on the phone only days ago, calling her "home girl."
  • Chargers: “Everyone at the Chargers is in complete shock and disbelief right now," said a team statement. "We ask everyone to stop what they’re doing and send their prayers to Junior and his family.”

  • Why? While his mother and other family members say he seemed fine this week, stories are drawing inevitable comparisons to the 2011 suicide of former NFL player Dave Duerson. He asked that his brain be studied to learn more about football-related damage, and he, too, shot himself in the chest. The only previous trouble with Seau seemed to be in 2010, when he survived a car plunge off a cliff following a domestic incident.
See Bleacher Report for more details on Seau's death and his playing career. (More Junior Seau stories.)

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