This is a bizarre story.
Former Denver Broncos defensive lineman Justin Lewis Bannan is accused of shooting a woman at a Boulder business, claiming the Russian Mafia was after him.
He was taken into custody Wednesday.
According to The Denver Channel:
On Wednesday around 2:25 p.m., officers with the Boulder Police Department responded to multiple calls concerning a shooting at Black Lab Sports, located at 3550 Frontier Avenue, according to an affidavit. The callers told dispatchers that a woman had been shot by a man in his mid 40s. They said the suspect was in black clothing and carrying a duffle bag, according to an affidavit.
THE MAN, WHO WAS IDENTIFIED AS FORMER BRONCO JUSTIN LEWIS BANNAN, 40, ON THURSDAY, WAS LAST SEEN HEADED WEST OUTSIDE OF THE BUILDING, ACCORDING TO AN AFFIDAVIT.
When officers arrived at the scene, they located the injured woman, who had been shot in her right shoulder. A man who worked at a separate business inside Black Lab Sports was helping her at the time.
The man told police he was in his office when he heard a gunshot and a scream. When he ran outside, he saw the woman bleeding and yelled for somebody to call 911, according to an affidavit. As he helped her, he saw a man leave the area and heard him make a comment about people being after him, he told police.
During a recorded interview, Bannan was “sweating profusely” and “making statements about the Russian Mafia being after him,” according to the affidavit. He also made statements about the woman, saying “she did not deserve that, she was a good person.”
When officers arrived on the scene, they arrested Bannan and found two guns in his backpack.
While police drove Baanan to the Boulder Police Dept., Bannan said he had hydrocephalus — a condition where excess fluid builds up in the cavities in the brain — and that he got rid of his cell phone because someone was tracking him.
He was a defensive lineman for the Broncos in 2012. He also played for the University of Colorado Boulder Buffs.
