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Police searching for motive in Kansas City Chiefs murder-suicide tragedy

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Investigators are still searching for a motive to help explain why Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher killed his girlfriend 22-year-old Kasandra Perkins, and then himself.

A friend of Belcher's girlfriend, Brianne York told the Associated Press the couple had lived apart briefly earlier in the year but had gotten back together by Thanksgiving.

She said Perkins was "really happy about being a mom."

Police said after shooting Perkins, Belcher drove to Arrowhead Stadium, where he thanked his coach and fatally shot himself.

Belcher and Perkins had a 3-month-old daughter, Zoey.

Meanwhile: Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt offered sympathy Sunday to the families affected by the murder-suicide involving one of his players, calling it "an incredibly difficult 24 hours for our family."

Hunt spoke to The Associated Press on the field before the Chiefs' game against the Carolina Panthers. He said the Chiefs consulted with the league about whether to play the game as scheduled, but ultimately left it up to coach Romeo Crennel and the team captains to decide.

Crennel and general manager Scott Pioli were in the parking lot of the Chiefs' practice facility Saturday morning when linebacker Jovan Belcher shot himself in the head. Belcher had shot his girlfriend multiple times at a nearby residence just minutes earlier.

Hunt said Pioli called him from the parking lot immediately after the shooting, and said that Sunday's game would be "incredibly difficult for them."

And:

NBC broadcaster Bob Costas used his halftime segment on "Sunday Night Football" to advocate for gun control following this weekend's murder-suicide involving Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher, causing an immediate debate on social media.

In a segment about 90 seconds long, Costas paraphrased and quoted extensively from a piece by Fox Sports columnist Jason Whitlock.

After praising the column, Costas said: "In the coming days, Jovan Belcher's actions and their possible connection to football will be analyzed. Who knows? But here, wrote Jason Whitlock, is what I believe. If Jovan Belcher didn't possess a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today."

Belcher shot and killed Perkins, the mother of his 3-month-old daughter, on Saturday morning, then drove to Arrowhead Stadium and committed suicide in the parking lot of the team's practice facility.

The online reaction to Costas' segment was swift, with many people criticizing the broadcaster for expressing his personal views on a program meant for entertainment.

The Associated Press is one of the largest and most trusted sources of independent newsgathering, supplying a steady stream of news to its members, international subscribers and commercial customers. AP is neither privately owned nor government-funded; instead, it's a not-for-profit news cooperative owned by its American newspaper and broadcast members.