Flickr photo by Phil Romans used under a Creative Commons license

WBAL

Former Ravens quarterback Steve McNair and a woman were found shot to death Saturday afternoon inside a condominium in downtown Nashville, police said.

Police spokesman Don Aaron said authorities were still investigating the shootings and that no suspects were in custody.

“I don’t have any answers for you now as to what’s happened, who’s responsible,” Aaron said.

Aaron said the 36-year-old McNair died of a gunshot wound to the head. He said police tentatively identified the woman, but did not release her name.

“There are persons who were around the complex today, visitors, who have been taken to headquarters for questioning, just to see what they know, what they may have seen,” he said.

Aaron said officers went to the scene after receiving a call about injured persons inside the condo.

“When police officers arrived in response to that call, they found two individuals who had been shot to death inside the residence,” he said.

The condominium is one that McNair was known to frequent, but police spokeswoman Kristin Mumford said she didn’t know if he was the owner.

UPDATE from NFL.com

McNair was 36 and played 13 seasons before retiring in April 2008. Police spokesman Don Aaron said officials tentatively identified the woman, but did not release her name. He confirmed she wasn’t McNair’s wife, Mechelle

@FoxBaltimore UPDATE

Police say the woman found dead with Steve McNair was his 20-year-old “friend.” She was shot once in the head. He was shot multiple times.

ESPN.com UPDATE at 11:29 PM EST

Nashville police say former NFL quarterback Steve McNair was shot multiple times and the 20-year-old woman found dead with him in a downtown condominium was shot once in the head. A pistol was found near her body.

Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron identified the woman as Sahel Kazemi, whom he called a “friend” of McNair’s.

Autopsies were planned for Sunday.

Aaron says McNair’s wife, Mechelle, is “very distraught” and that police do not believe she is involved.

[...]

McNair jointly rented the condominium, located at 2nd Avenue South and Lea Avenue, with his friend and sporting goods dealer Wayne Neeley, the police said. Neeley arrived at the condominium shortly before 1 p.m. Saturday and found McNair and Kazemi shot. Neeley telephoned McNair’s friend Robert Gaddy, who came to the scene. It was Gaddy who placed the call to police at 1:35 p.m.

Kazemi was arrested for DUI on Thursday while driving a 2007 Cadillac Escalade jointly registered to her and McNair, police said. McNair was in the front passenger seat at the stop. He was deemed not to be in violation of the law and left the scene by taxi, police said.

NashvillePost.com via @DonGeronimoShow:

While Metro Police has reported that details are sketchy, NashvillePost.com sources say that at approximately 2 a.m. Saturday morning, McNair was celebrating the holidays at the Blue Moon Restaurant near the John C. Tune Airport.

According to the same NashvillePost.com sources, a white woman in her early 20s, around 5-foot-4, approached McNair at the restaurant and accused him of slipping her a “roofie” a year ago.

The woman then told McNair, according to sources, that her boyfriend was going to kill him.

[...]

Multiple sources have confirmed that this information has been shared with the Metro Police Department. Metro Police has yet to identify the dead woman, but is it unknown if the woman at the restaurant is the same woman found in the condo.

@BreakingNews

Police: Gun found next to woman who was found with a single gunshot wound. A murder-suicide has not yet been confirmed.

@BreakingNews

A Tennessee newspaper reports that Steve McNair had an affair with the woman who was found dead next to him.

WKRN

Metro police said Kazemi was arrested for DUI at 1:20 a.m. Thursday while driving a 2007 Cadillac Escalade registered to both her and McNair.

McNair was in the front passenger seat of the vehicle at the time of the traffic stop at 9th Avenue and Broadway but was deemed not to be in violation of the law and left the scene by taxi.

The condominium where the bodies were found is located just a few blocks from the Cumberland River and within view of LP Field.

Investigators remained on the scene Saturday night.

HuffPo

The arrest affidavit said Kazemi had bloodshot eyes and the smell of alcohol on her breath, but refused a breathalyzer test, saying “she was not drunk, she was high.”

Police remained at the condo Saturday night after the bodies were removed, but most of the bystanders had gone home.

Fred McNair, Steve McNair’s oldest brother, said some family members likely will travel to Nashville on Monday to consult with Steve McNair’s wife.

“It’s still kind of hard to believe,” Fred McNair said. “He was the greatest person in the world. He gave back to the community. He loved kids and he wanted to be a role model to kids.”

He said he did not know who Kazemi was.

SportsByBrooks has these pictures of Kazemi:

Scared Monkeys:

The details from the Police press conference make one pause and think that this sad and tragic event might have been a murder-suicide. The details from the presser were as follows:

* Steve Mc Nair was shot multiple time.
* The deceased female Sahel Kazemi was killed by one gunshot to the head.
* A hand gun was recovered near the body of Sahel Kazemi.
* The door to the condo was locked when co-renter arrived.
* Steve McNair was found dead on the coach.
* Sahel Kazemi was found dead on the floor.
* Police said that they are not actively searching for a suspect tonight.
* They will meet with ME in the morning to go over results of the autopsies.

Other coverage below the fold

Baltimore Sun
Steve McNair found dead
Nashville PD release at BaltimoreSun.com

WJZ has statements from Derrick Mason, Ozzie Newsome, Samari Rolle, and Bart Scott.

From McNair’s wikipedia entry:

McNair married Mechelle on June 21, 1997, and had four sons: Steve Junior, Steven, Tyler, and Trenton. Steve Jr. is a wide receiver at Oak Grove High School in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, the school at which Brett Favre regularly works out during the off-season. Steve Jr. is scheduled to graduate in 2010 and has received offers from Mississippi State, Southern Miss, West Virginia, and Tulsa. McNair opened a restaurant named Gridiron9 in Nashville on June 19, 2009.

Other links:
HuffPo
OTB‘
RavensGab.com
Investigative Voice
Deadspin

Related posts:

1. McNair’s killer had marijuana in her system
2. Report: Steve McNair also had an affair with a stripper
3. Ravens QB Steve McNair arrested for DUI
4. McNair estate battle brewing?
5. McNair’s DUI charges could be dropped Tuesday