DENVER (AP) -Police have zeroed in on an SUV they believe might have been used in the drive-by slaying of Denver Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams, who was eulogized in a private memorial at team headquarters Wednesday.
Police spokeswoman Virginia Quinones said officers were focusing on a 1998 Chevrolet Tahoe, which might have been used in the killing early Monday. A gunman sprayed a white stretch Hummer limousine with at least 14 bullets, one of which struck Williams in the neck.
State confidentiality laws prevent the police from saying who a vehicle is registered to, but the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post, citing sources they didn't name, reported the SUV belongs to Brian K. Hicks of Denver.
Hicks has been jailed since Nov. 9 on a charge of possessing drugs with intent to distribute, the papers reported. He also accused of shooting at a woman who was later killed a week before she was to testify against him.
Hicks' wife, Kimaya James, told the Rocky Mountain News that police were looking for her husband's vehicle but that she didn't know who had been driving the Tahoe while he's been in jail. She declined to talk about Hicks or the Williams slaying.
Two other people were wounded in the attack and have been released from the hospital.
Investigators are pursuing other tips but have not identified any suspects, spokesman Sonny Jackson said.
Police aren't saying whether they know the motive for the slaying but have said there was a disturbance at a nightclub where Williams attended a New Year's Eve party shortly before he was killed. Investigators also are reviewing surveillance video from the club and footage from traffic cameras.
Williams' uncle, Demond Williams, said the cornerback was at the club to promote a rap group for his fledgling independent recording label, Ryno Entertainment.
The gathering at the club in downtown Denver also was billed as a birthday party for Denver Nuggets star Kenyon Martin, who has said he and other Nuggets left the club before any trouble arose.
Williams' teammates and coaches, along with owner Pat Bowlen and other team personnel gathered with Williams' relatives at the team's training complex on Wednesday for a private memorial in which all the players got a chance to say what Williams meant to them. There was also a slideshow of his career, a team spokesman said.
Also in attendance was former teammate Trevor Pryce, who plays for the Baltimore Ravens.
The group assembled in the team's conditioning center as a stream of mourners continued to add flowers, balloons and even a bottle of Orange Crush to a makeshift shrine at the team's complex. Other memorials were set up at the site of the killing and at Invesco Field, where the Broncos' season ended with a 26-23 loss to San Francisco on Sunday night, hours before the shooting.
Some of the players wore sweats, others jeans and others suits as they solemnly filed into the building.
``I would like to thank you all for the love and support that our family has received during this sad time,'' Williams' mother, Rosalind Williams, said in a statement afterward.
The Broncos will charter a flight to Fort Worth, Williams' home town, where the funeral will be held at Great Commission Baptist Church this weekend. It will be open to the public.
``I think it will be very special for our football team to be there as a group and to not only support Darrent's memory but his mom, and we're going to have everybody in the organization go,'' Shanahan said.
Although only 5-foot-8, Williams was full of confidence. He had 88 tackles and four interceptions in 2006 and returned two punts for 50 yards in his final game hours before his death.
Williams had a 7-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter who live in Fort Worth. A memorial fund was set up in their honor, and Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony said he wanted to honor his friend, possibly by setting up a college fund for Williams' children.
In 2003, Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Joey Porter was shot outside a Denver sports bar, and last April, Nuggets guard Julius Hodge was shot while driving on Interstate 76 in Denver. Both shootings occurred after disturbances at nightclubs.
``Especially if you're out in a club or a bar and you see commotion like that you want to get out,'' Anthony said. ``They always say bullets have no names.''
Both of those earlier cases remain unsolved.
Hodge, who played Tuesday night for the first time since he was shot five times nine months ago, said Williams' killing brought back nightmares of the night he was attacked.
``I pray every night for him and his family and friends,'' Hodge said. ``They haven't found who shot me and I've pretty much let it go, but I pray that they find whoever shot him.''
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AP Sports Writer Pat Graham and Associated Press writer Don Mitchell in Denver contributed to this report.
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