Former NFL QB Steve McNair found shot to death

    * Story Highlights
    * NEW: Former NFL QB Steve McNair shot multiple times, including once in head
    * Gun found near body of woman identified as Sahel Kazemi, police say
    * Investigators say they do not know circumstances surrounding the shooting
    * McNair, 36, spent 13 seasons in the NFL, the majority with the Tennessee Titans

(CNN) -- Former NFL quarterback Steve McNair was shot multiple times, including once in the head, at a Nashville, Tennessee, condominium, authorities said Saturday.

Police said they found McNair and a woman identified as Sahel Kazemi shot to death after receiving a phone call about an injured person.

McNair's body was found seated on a living room sofa, authorities said.

Kazemi sustained a gunshot wound to the head, authorities said. Police also said a pistol was found near her body.

Autopsies were scheduled for Sunday.

Asked whether the shooting was a murder-suicide, Don Aaron, spokesman for the Nashville Metropolitan Police Department, said investigators have not classified the incident . He said investigators have not ruled out anything but added that they were not "actively looking at suspects" Saturday night.

"I suspect we'll have something to say tomorrow," Aaron said.

The bodies were found just two days after Kazemi was pulled over in a Cadillac Escalade, registered to her and McNair, and charged with a DUI, Aaron said. McNair was in the vehicle at the time.

Although Aaron described Kazemi as McNair's "friend," a law enforcement source close to the investigation said that the woman is McNair's girlfriend and that the residence is her condominium in downtown Nashville.

Witnesses said McNair was a frequent visitor at the condominium.

Authorities were questioning people who were near the home, but they said no one was in custody.

Police could not provide details about the circumstances of the shooting. VideoWatch police update reporters on McNair's death »

Investigators don't think McNair's wife, Mechelle, who is "very distraught," was involved, Aaron said.

McNair's family issued a statement through a spokesman Saturday, saying, "The families of Steve McNair in Mississippi and Tennessee appreciate the concern, thoughts and prayers during this difficult time of our lost of a husband, father and son. The family requests everyone would allow them time to mourn."

McNair's brother, Fred, also confirmed the death but had no immediate details.

McNair, 36, spent 13 seasons in the NFL, the majority with the Tennessee Titans, and was named the NFL's co-MVP along with Indianapolis Colts QB Peyton Manning in 2003. He spent his last two seasons with the Baltimore Ravens before announcing his retirement in April 2008.

The owner of the Titans, Bud Adams Jr., said in a statement that the organization was "saddened and shocked" to hear of McNair's death.

"He was one of the finest players to play for our organization and one of the most beloved players by our fans," Adams said.

"He played with unquestioned heart and leadership and led us to places that we had never reached, including our only Super Bowl."

The Titans marked a Super Bowl loss to the St. Louis Rams in 2000.

McNair attended Alcorn State in Mississippi.

Dozens of fans who rushed to the crime scene were rattled by the news of McNair's death.

"I'm in shock. It's so hard to believe," Sonya Hughes told CNN affiliate WKRN. "Tennessee Titans, Steve McNair -- on the Fourth of July."

Ludy Wallace, former Nashville city councilman, remembered McNair as a "friendly" guy.

"I think he made an everlasting impression with people he came in contact with and the people that attended his [football] camps," Wallace told CNN affiliate WTVF.

CNN's Mayra Cuevas and Mike Brooks contributed to this report.

Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/07/04/mcn … topstories

Palin's Facebook Statement that is mentioned in the article below:

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Palin cites ‘higher calling’ in quitting
White House run in 2012 a possibility for divisive political figure
The Associated Press
updated 7:54 p.m. ET, Sat., July 4, 2009

JUNEAU, Alaska - Outgoing Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on Saturday laid the groundwork to take on a larger, national role after leaving state government, citing a "higher calling" with the aim of uniting the country along conservative lines.

A day after surprising even her closest friends by announcing she would step down as Alaska governor more than a year before her term was up, the controversial hockey mom was still keeping details of her future plans under wrap. But in a statement posted on Palin's Facebook account, she suggested that she had bigger plans and a national agenda she planned to push after she resigns at the end of the month.

"I am now looking ahead and how we can advance this country together with our values of less government intervention, greater energy independence, stronger national security, and much-needed fiscal restraint," she said.

Palin also cast herself as a victim and blasted the media, calling the response to her announcement "predictable" and out of touch.

"How sad that Washington and the media will never understand; it's about country," the statement said. "And though it's honorable for countless others to leave their positions for a higher calling and without finishing a term, of course we know by now, for some reason a different standard applies for the decisions I make."

Palin's personal spokeswoman, Meghan Stapleton, confirmed to The Associated Press that the Facebook posting was written by the governor.

Attorney threatens media outlets
The abruptness of her announcement and the mystery surrounding her plans has fed widespread speculation. But Palin attorney Thomas Van Flein on Saturday warned legal action may be taken against bloggers and publications that reprint what he calls fraudulent claims.

"To the extent several websites, most notably liberal Alaska blogger Shannyn Moore, are now claiming as 'fact' that Governor Palin resigned because she is 'under federal investigation' for embezzlement or other criminal wrongdoing, we will be exploring legal options this week to address such defamation," Van Flein said in a statement. "This is to provide notice to Ms. Moore, and those who re-publish the defamation, such as Huffington Post, MSNBC, the New York Times and The Washington Post, that the Palins will not allow them to propagate defamatory material without answering to this in a court of law."

Palin has kept a low profile since her abrupt announcement Friday at a hastily called news conference at her home in suburban Wasilla, outside Anchorage. All of her public communication since then has been on the social networking sites Facebook and Twitter, or through statements released by her office.

At the same time, Palin informed Murrow early Saturday that someone using the name "exgovsarahpalin" on Twitter was spreading a false rumor that there was to be a party at her suburban home in Wasilla, outside Anchorage. Palin was afraid her home would be mobbed, and security was dispatched, Murrow said.

On sidelines at parade
With only a few weeks before she steps down on July 26, and Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell takes her place, the governor spent the Fourth of July weekend in the state capital, Juneau, but was only spotted briefly on the sidelines of the city's parade.

She had been invited to ride in a convertible, as she did last year, but never told organizers whether she would attend.

Juneau parade director Jean Sztuk said officials drew up banners in case Palin showed and was willing to take part.

As the last of the parade's clowns and marching bands headed past her, Sztuk gave up on Palin. "What governor wants to be at the end of the parade?" she asked.

Her low-profile and vague Internet messages left mounting questions about her plans for the future shrouded in mystery. Will she lay the groundwork for a 2012 presidential bid? Will she find a high-profile place in the private sector, maybe on the speech circuit? Will she drop out of the limelight and focus on her five children?

Her constituents, for one, wanted to know, especially in Juneau, where she has struggled to win over residents.

"I think she owes it to Alaskans to tell us why," said state Sen. Dennis Egan, D-Juneau, the son of Alaska's first governor, Bill Egan.

Egan, hosting a 50th anniversary statehood ceremony, said he was disappointed Palin decided not to finish out her term, which was scheduled to end in 2010.

"It's sad she abandoned us at this critical time," said Egan, who was appointed by Palin to an open seat on the last day of the legislative session in April, after a protracted battle with Senate Democrats.

Palin's departure can't come soon enough for Laurel Carlton, a waitress at the Capital Cafe in the Baranof Hotel, where the city's political movers and shakers meet every morning before walking a few blocks to the Capitol.

"I think she has a game plan that's not Alaska, and hasn't been for awhile," Carlton said.

She noted Palin has a book deal, and seems headed for the national stage.

"If you're really not going to stay and do your job every day, you should leave anyway, and so the sooner the better so somebody can step in and actually do the job," Carlton said.

And as far as Carlton is concerned, Palin doesn't need to explain why she's leaving.

"We don't care. We just want her gone," she said.

Palin, whose popularity in Alaska has waned amid ongoing ethics investigations, gave many reasons for stepping down: She didn't want to be a lame-duck governor; she was tired of the tasteless jokes aimed at her five children, including her son Trig, who has Down syndrome; she felt she could do more in another, still-to-be-defined role.

McCain didn't rule out a return to politics for his former running mate, saying Saturday he believes "she will continue to play an important leadership role in the Republican Party and our nation." He gave no other details.

Even Parnell, who plans to run for re-election after finishing out Palin's term, said he was shocked at first when he learned of his boss' decision.

"But then as she began to articulate her reasons, I began to understand better," he said. "And nobody — unless they've been in her position and understood what she has gone through and dealt with and who she is as a person — really understands."

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31737517/ns … _politics/

I'm reading on certain sites that people close to her are saying that she is done with politics forever. 

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Palin Resigns. But Why?!
7/3/09, 3:55 pm EST
WTF?

Sarah Palin has pulled the plug on her governorship. Before the end of her only term. At an impromptu press conference. At her house. On a Friday. Before the 4th of July. And refuses to answer questions.

This is not in keeping with a woman with presidential ambitions.

And certainly not in keeping with a politician who has learned to milk a media frenzy for every last drop (see Letterman, David.)

No. This has the hallmarks of a politician slinking away before the shit hits the fan.

Really. If this were some double-bank-shot designed to bolster her presidential standing (as AP seems to suggest) would Sarah Palin choose to duck out on the first day of a three-day weekend? When the entire American mediaplex is off buying ice for the cooler?

No way.

Another shoe is about to drop, but what is it?

The only clue we’ve got, an oblique mention to a reporter from the outgoing Guv:

“You are naive if you don’t see a full-court press on the national level, picking apart a good point guard.”

UPDATE: Andrea Mitchell of MSNBC reporting Palin sources saying ex Guv is “out of politics for good.”
http://www.rollingstone.com/nationalaff … n-resigns/