Chiefs grieve over the murder of teammate James Winchester’s father

One of the first things Chiefs long-snapper James Winchester apparently did when he found out about the murder of his father on Tuesday afternoon was call Chiefs coach Andy Reid.

Reid listened, and understood that Winchester had to go home, back to Oklahoma City, to be with his family. Period.

“In those situations, you have to go,” Reid said. “Family is number one. This (football) is important in our lives, but not like that. He left right away.”

Michael Winchester, a 52-year-old employee of Southwest Airlines, was shot in a parking lot Tuesday while leaving work at Will Rogers World Airport. He was taken to a hospital, where he died.

Oklahoma City police captain Paco Balderrama said police believe it was a premeditated act. The suspect, Lloyd Dean Buie, 45, of Oklahoma City, was found dead in a parking garage of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Buie was an ex-employee of Southwest Airlines. He resigned from his job in April 2015.

“We do not know if Mr. Winchester was the intended victim, but it is possible that the suspect acted in retaliation against the circumstances leading up to his resignation,” Balderrama said.

Balderrama said police believe Buie shot Winchester from the fourth level of a parking garage about 50 yards away. He said police do not believe Winchester was Buie’s supervisor at Southwest.

“Tragic, tragic incident and sick, to be honest with you,” Reid said of the situation

Reid was not alone in those sentiments. Several Chiefs noted they sent Winchester words of encouragement over the last few days.

“Honestly, I just sent him a text and told him we were thinking about him,” safety Eric Berry said. “I didn’t want to talk to him too much because it’s a tough time. … I didn’t really want to talk to him about it. I left it at that and I let him know that if he needs anything I’m here to talk to him, along with a lot of guys on the team as well.

“We’re all here for him. We’re a team but we treat it as family.”

Quarterback Alex Smith agreed.

“I think everyone was in shock — it’s something you never expect to happen or think will happen in your wildest dreams,” Smith said. “I think everyone is feeling for James and his family … it’s very tragic.”

Smith added that Winchester is known in the locker room as a “caring” and “thoughtful” teammate, someone “that would sacrifice for his team.”

Punter Dustin Colquitt, who met James’ father before at a few games, came away thinking the two were very much alike.

“Great guy, loves sports — that family has a hunting passion,” Colquitt said. “They were the same guy balled into one. He instilled all this great stuff into James.”

Like his faith, for instance.

“(James is) a man of faith, and I think his dad was, too,” Colquitt said. “His faith in Christ is going to bring him and his family through.”

That doesn’t change what happened, Colquitt added, but Colquitt says his friend is handling the situation well.

“He’s in a great spot, as great as you can be after a tragedy like that,” Colquitt said. “From a text he sent me, there’s obviously forgiveness.

“We have some crazy stuff going on in this country right now, where people have pulled away from their faith, and some sick stuff going on. So I think the only way to do that, if you are a man of faith, which he is, is lean on that and have forgiveness.”

Reid said Chiefs will give Winchester all the time he needs to work his way through a tough time. He did not rule out a possible return for the Chiefs’ home game Sunday against Tampa Bay, but he noted that fullback Anthony Sherman or tight end Travis Kelce could handle the long snapping duties, if necessary.

But that considering the situation, that’s the last thing Reid is worrying about.

“When he comes back, he comes back,” Reid said. “But right now, it’s his time to be with his family.”

This story was originally published November 16, 2016 at 6:26 PM with the headline "Chiefs grieve over the murder of teammate James Winchester’s father."