As Andy Reid prepares his team for the start of the 2025 season, news broke on Wednesday of an event that could have ended in tragedy for the Kansas City Chiefs head coach during the 2024 off season.
According to a report by The Kansas City Star, three shots were fired in the direction of the Chiefs' practice facility in May last year and one of them went into Reid's office while he was in it.
After speaking to police and reviewing a police incident report, The Star reported shortly after midnight on the morning of May 4 2024 a bullet broke through the glass window of the 67-year-old's office and lodged into a wall four metres from where Reid was sitting.
The Chiefs have since installed bulletproof windows in Reid's office.
Of the other two bullets, one was fired into the third storey — one storey above Reid's office — and the other hit an outdoor air conditioning unit, according to the news report.
No arrests have been made and no charges have been filed, though police are treating the incident as an aggravated assault.
“There is no indication this was a targeted incident at any person or organisation,” Kansas City police spokesperson Capt Jacob Becchina told The Star.
“Because the building was occupied at the time of the bullet coming through the window, the case is being investigated as an aggravated assault,” he added.
According to The Star, the franchise has been tight-lipped about the incident, with the outlet saying, “for many Chiefs players and staff, The Star's report will be the first they have learnt of the gunfire that hit the facility”.
The Chiefs have not responded publicly since The Star's report and Reid's next media availability is slated to be Friday night after Kansas City's home game against the Chicago Bears, the final preseason game for both teams.
Reid has led the Chiefs to three Super Bowl titles since the 2019 season, with the most recent coming at the end of the 2023 season. Kansas City lost its bid for a three-peat when it lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 59 in February.
With his three rings, the 2002 AP NFL Coach of the Year Award winner has 273 career wins, fourth all time and tops among active coaches. He coached the Philadelphia Eagles for 14 seasons before joining the Chiefs ahead of the 2013 season.
_**— Field Level Media/Reuters**_