Police were no longer chasing Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland when he crashed his car into a pickup truck “at a high rate of speed” on the Dallas Parkway, shortly before his death from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound earlier this month, according to a crash report obtained Thursday by The Athletic.
According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, police began pursuing Kneeland at 10:33 p.m. on Nov. 5, attempting to stop his vehicle until DPS troopers lost sight of his car. The crash report said that “the pursuit was terminated and no police were actively pursuing Unit 1 (Kneeland) at the time of the crash.”
Names were redacted from the crash report, which listed the driver of a Dodge Charger as a 24-year-old Black man. The crash ID for the report matched the one provided to The Athletic about Kneeland’s case. The Dallas Morning News reported earlier this month that troopers originally attempted to stop Kneeland’s car for a traffic violation, although it’s unclear what that violation was, how fast Kneeland was driving or why police stopped their pursuit.
According to the crash report, the pickup truck involved in the collision was driving South, merging into lane two from lane three, when Kneeland, also traveling South in lane one, “failed to drive in a single lane” and struck the pickup truck. DPS said the driver of the pickup truck was not injured.
Kneeland’s car then struck a curb and came to a stop in a field on the right shoulder of the road, according to the report. He then abandoned his car on foot. Police arrived at the scene at 10:40 p.m. They found Kneeland, 24, dead at 1:31 a.m. on Nov. 6, just under half a mile west of the Dallas Parkway.
Kneeland’s death has shaken the NFL. In the weeks since, teams have hosted moments of silence at games, while the Cowboys took to the field on Monday for the first time since his death, wearing helmet decals with his number, 94.
“I’m proud of you,” an emotional coach Brian Schottenheimer told his team after that game, “and you made Marshawn proud tonight.”
If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide or is in emotional distress, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing 988 or at 988lifeline.org.