New York City police detectives have identified a possible suspect in the shooting of New York Jets player Kris Boyd and are looking to question him, police sources told ABC News on Thursday.
No arrests have been made in connection with the early Sunday shooting, which occurred outside a Midtown Manhattan nightclub, the sources said.
The shooting is believed to have stemmed from words exchanged between Boyd, who was with two other Jets players and a friend at the nightclub, Sei Less, and another group "chirping" about their clothing, the sources said.
When Boyd and his group decided to leave, they encountered the same group of men, who began to verbally insult them, again questioning their clothing and asking if they think that "they're better than us," the sources said.
The verbal back and forth did not escalate to anyone announcing a robbery, sources said, as detectives had been looking into a possible attempted robbery of Boyd's necklace as a potential motive in the shooting. Adding to the mystery, a $185,000 watch was recovered at the scene of the shooting that no one has since claimed, the sources said.
PHOTO: New York Jets defensive player Kris Boyd, pictured here, October 31, 2024, while playing for his former team, the Houston Texans, at Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
New York Jets defensive player Kris Boyd, pictured here, October 31, 2024, while playing for his former team, the Houston Texans, at Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Al Pereira/Getty Images)
Al Pereira/Getty Images
The shooting occurred just after 2 a.m. on Sunday. The football player told NYPD detectives that he had been at Sei Less on Saturday night with friends, law enforcement sources told ABC News.
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After they left, Boyd and his friends got into a scuffle outside the restaurant and the football player was shot in the abdomen, the bullet lodging in his lung, sources told ABC News.
He was transported to an area hospital in critical condition and has had multiple medical procedures, police sources said. On Wednesday, the football player said he was starting to breathe on his own and shared a photo from his hospital bed on social media.
Earlier this week, police released images of a person of interest in the case they were seeking to identify in connection with the shooting. The man was seen leaving the scene on foot, the NYPD said.