Cops: Bronco Aqib Talib Shot Himself, but He Was Too Drunk to Remember

Update: Denver Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib is having a hell of a season so far, nabbing three interceptions in four games (including two last Sunday against Tampa Bay) and returning one for a touchdown.

Lucky thing, since his play on the field should distract from the latest evidence of his dumbassery off it.

Specifically, Dallas police reps speaking anonymously to WFAA-TV have revealed their conclusion that Talib, who was shot while visiting the city on June 5, pulled the trigger himself.

Not that Talib is likely to have a clear memory of the incident. As we noted in our previous coverage, on view below, he admits to having been too drunk to know exactly what went down — which explains in part the subsequent confusion. At first, Talib was said to have been perforated at a strip club where two other people took bullets. Now, however, the cops say they can't confirm Talib was ever at the club — and he maintains that the shooting actually happened at an area park. Beyond that, he can only recall the sound of a gunshot, after which he hit the ground while bleeding from his injury; the projectile entered the back of his right thigh and exited through his calf.

The police's conclusion likely ends the threat of law-enforcement action against Talib, but not the prospect of discipline from the NFL — if commissioner Roger Goodell can stop laughing long enough to suspend him, that is. Continue for our previous coverage.

Update, 5:27 a.m. June 7: While commenting on the shooting of Denver Bronco Aqib Talib in Dallas early Sunday morning, June 5 (see our previous coverage below), ESPN's Tony Kornheiser said the star cornerback, who missed a visit to the White House with his teammates because of the incident, had "some 'splainin' to do."

Problem is, the credibility of the explanation Talib delivered to police is being widely questioned.

Talib maintains that he was shot at a Dallas park, not a strip club, on June 5.

But the time frame he offered is nearly an hour different from the one shared previously.

And he's short on additional details.

Why? Supposedly because he was so drunk at the time.

Initial reports said that two men were shot at V Live, a Dallas exotic-dancer hot spot — and Talib was transported from there to an area hospital in his Rolls Royce.

Here's video from outside the club obtained by TMZ. Four gunshots are clearly audible.


Now, however, WFAA in Dallas maintains that two other men were shot.

That means Talib would be the third person to take a bullet at the location.

But in a police report obtained by the station, Talib, who's had a history of trouble at clubs (those details are below as well), insists that he wasn't at V Live.

Instead, he told investigators that he was with a large group at Hamilton Park, a location seen in the following screen capture:

Was there a fight at the park? Or was something else going on that led to gunplay?

Talib doesn't seem to be the best source on these questions.

According to him, "Everything was a blur, and I was too intoxicated to remember what happened."

Beyond that, all he knows is that "I heard a single gunshot and fell to the ground."

This happened around 3:40 a.m. on the 5th, Talib insisted. The strip club shooting is said to have taken place at 2:45 a.m.

The bullet fired at Talib hit him in the back of his right thigh and exited through the calf below — a wound clean enough to prompt a positive prognosis from doctors. He's expected to make a complete recovery.

Observers like Kornheiser seem less optimistic that Talib's tale will hold up to closer scrutiny. And why being drunk and getting shot at a park at 3:40 a.m. is notably better than taking a bullet at a strip club at 2:45 a.m. isn't all that clear — to us, anyhow.

Here's the WFAA report, followed by our previous coverage.