Cowboys' Marshawn Kneeland found dead of apparent suicide at 24 after evading officers, police say

Police in a Dallas suburb say 24-year-old Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland was found dead of an apparent suicide after evading authorities in his vehicle and fleeing the scene of an accident on foot.

Frisco police said Thursday they are investigating the suicide. They said Kneeland didn't stop for Texas Department of Public Safety troopers over a traffic violation in a chase that was joined by Frisco police on Wednesday night.

Authorities lost sight of the vehicle before locating it crashed minutes later. During the search after Kneeland fled the crash site on foot, officers said they received word that Kneeland might be suicidal.

As authorities were looking for Kneeland, a dispatcher told officers that people who knew him had received a group text from Kneeland “saying goodbye. They’re concerned for his welfare,” according to recordings from Broadcastify, which archives public safety radio feeds.

“We’re talking to the girlfriend. She’s trying to call his agent. But we’re trying to get her to call him first. But she’s saying he is armed and has a history of mental illness. And her quote was, ‘He will end it all,’” another dispatcher told officers.

He was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound early Thursday morning, about three hours after the crash, police said without specifying where Kneeland's body was found. In the recordings from Broadcastify, officers said they had tried to get in contact with Kneeland by calling and texting him and had used a drone to try and locate him after the crash.

The Denver Broncos paid tribute to Kneeland with a moment of silence before their game Thursday night against the Las Vegas Raiders. The team also put his image on the scoreboard.

Kneeland's death came just days after he recovered a blocked punt in the end zone for a touchdown in a 27-17 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.

Kneeland was in his second season with the Cowboys. He was a 2024 second-round draft pick out of Western Michigan.

“I am shattered to confirm that my client and dearest friend Marshawn Kneeland passed away last night,” Kneeland's agent, Jonathan Perzley, said in a statement that asked for privacy. “Marshawn poured his heart into every snap, every practice and every moment on the field. To lose someone with his talent, spirit and goodness is a pain I can hardly put into words.”

Kneeland's rookie season was off to a promising start before he was sidelined for five games by a knee injury.

Kneeland had his first career sack in the season opener this year against Philadelphia. He played in seven games this season, missing two with an ankle injury.

“Marshawn was a beloved teammate and member of our organization,” the Cowboys said. “Our thoughts and prayers regarding Marshawn are with his girlfriend Catalina and his family.”

The Cowboys have frequently sought pass rushers and other defensive linemen in the first two rounds of the draft. Kneeland was drafted a year after defensive end Sam Williams was taken by Dallas in the second round. Williams blocked the punt that Kneeland recovered against the Cardinals.

Kneeland’s mother, Wendy Kneeland, died suddenly while he was preparing for the draft. He had his mother’s ashes in a necklace he wore after joining the Cowboys, according to The Dallas Morning News.

“We are deeply saddened by the tragic news of the passing of Cowboys’ Marshawn Kneeland,” the NFL said. “We have been in contact with the Cowboys and have offered support and counseling resources.”

Miami Dolphins receivers coach Robert Prince, who had the same position with the Cowboys when Kneeland was a rookie last year, had tears in his eyes as he met with reporters Thursday.

“We spent a lot of time (together) when he was injured and working out in the weight room,” Prince said. “We’d shoot the breeze. He was a Western Michigan kid and I coached with the Lions for a while so we had some Michigan-type stories. Good kid. I’m sorry to hear that about him.”

Kneeland had a career-high 57 tackles along with 4 1/2 sacks in nine games as a senior at Western Michigan.

“My heart is absolutely broken over the loss of Marshawn Kneeland,” Western Michigan coach Lance Taylor said. “His leadership, energy and smile were infectious, and he left a lasting impact on everyone in our program. Having coached him during my first season here, we developed a special bond that went far beyond football.”

Tributes poured in from around the NFL, including Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons, who raised the topic of suicide awareness with a reporter during training camp this year.

“It sucks seeing the news of our NFL brother!” Simmons wrote on X. “Even when someone is carrying the biggest smile, make sure to just check in on them. You just never know man. Don’t be afraid to ask for help, we all go through things that we sometimes hide!”

Two of Kneeland's Dallas teammates, quarterback Dak Prescott and defensive lineman Solomon Thomas, had siblings who died by suicide and have foundations supporting suicide awareness and prevention. Thomas' sister, Ella, was the same age as Kneeland.

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FILE - Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland runs drills during NFL football training camp Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Oxnard, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun, File)

Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland (94) celebrates with Malik Davis (43), after he recovered a blocked punt for a touchdown in the first half of an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals first half of an NFL football game Monday, Nov. 3, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Richard Rodriguez)

Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland (94) holds the football after recovering an Arizona Cardinals blocked bunt for a touchdown during an NFL football game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Arizona Cardinals Monday, Nov. 3, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

FILE - Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland (94) rushes during a NFL football game against the Washington Commanders, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson, File)

FILE - Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland takes the field before a football game against the New York Giants, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Jeffrey McWhorter, File)

FILE - Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland (94) walks off the field after a preseason NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Richard W. Rodriguez, File)

Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland, right, recovers a blocked punt for a touchdown as Sam Williams (54), Damone Clark (18) and Arizona Cardinals punter Pat O'Donnell (39) look on in the first half of an NFL football game Monday, Nov. 3, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Richard Rodriguez)

Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland (94), Malik Davis (43) and Damone Clark, right, celebrate after Kneeland recovered a blocked punt for a touchdown in the first half of an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals Monday, Nov. 3, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Richard Rodriguez)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Explosions sounded in Iran's capital on Wednesday as the war with the United States and Israel entered its fifth day, with Israel targeting the Iranian leadership and security forces and the Islamic Republic responding with missile barrages and drone attacks on Israel and across the Persian Gulf region.

The blasts in Tehran came at dawn, according to Iran state television. Israel's military said its air defenses had been activated to intercept Iranian missiles targeting Israel and explosions were heard around Jerusalem.

With Iran's stranglehold on tanker movement through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which about a fifth of the world's oil is shipped, Brent crude prices rose to more than $82 a barrel, up more than 13% since the start of the conflict and at its highest price since July 2024. Global stock markets have been hammered over worries that the spike in oil prices may grind down the world economy and sap corporate profits.

The American Embassy in Saudi Arabia and the U.S. Consulate in the United Arab Emirates came under drone attacks Tuesday, and the U.S. State Department said Wednesday it had authorized non-emergency government personnel to evacuate the kingdom.

U.S. Navy Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of U.S. Central Command, said Iran has launched more than 500 ballistic missiles and 2,000 drones so far. He described the American strikes in the opening hours of the campaign as “nearly double the scale” of the initial attacks during the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

“We’ve already struck nearly 2,000 targets, with more than 2,000 munitions. We have severely degraded Iran’s air defenses and destroyed hundreds of Iran’s ballistic missiles, launchers and drones,” Cooper said in a prerecorded message shared online Wednesday.

“In simple terms, we are focused on shooting all the things that can shoot at us,” he added.

Five days into a war that U.S. President Donald Trump suggested could last a month or longer, nearly 800 people have been killed in Iran, including some Trump said he had considered as possible future leaders of the country.

Israel on Wednesday said it was conducting a series of strikes across Tehran targeting Iranian security forces, the day after it hit a building associated with the clerical panel that will pick Iran’s next supreme leader in the city of Qom.

Air sirens sounded in the morning across the island kingdom of Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, and Qatar’s Ministry of Defense said Iran launched two ballistic missiles against it and one hit Al-Udeid Qatari Base, but didn’t cause casualties.

Lebanon was hit in multiple strikes, where Israel said it is retaliating against Hezbollah militants after the Iran-backed group fired on Israel. Lebanon's state-run media reported that at least five people were killed in an Israeli strike that hit a residential complex in the city of Baalbeck. More than 50 people have been killed in Lebanon and more than 300 wounded, according to the Health Ministry.

In addition to Hezbollah, Iranian-linked militant groups in Iraq have been launching attacks, with Saraya Awliya al-Dam claiming responsibility for a drone attack Wednesday on Jordan, where air raid sirens sounded across the country. The Shiite militia group one of several operating in Iraq, and claimed responsibility for attacks in the past days on American targets in Baghdad and Irbil.

Iran has fired regular salvoes of missiles and drones missiles at Israel, though most of the incoming fire has been intercepted. Eleven people in Israel have been killed since the conflict began.

The spiraling nature of the war raised questions about when and how it would end.

Trump's administration has offered various objectives, including destroying Iran’s missile capabilities, wiping out its navy, preventing it from obtaining a nuclear weapon and ensuring it cannot continue to support allied armed groups.

While the initial U.S.-Israeli strikes killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Trump urged Iranians to overthrow their government, senior administration officials have since said regime change was not the goal.

Trump on Tuesday seemed to downplay the chances of the war ending Iran's theocratic rule, saying that “someone from within” the Iranian regime might be the best choice to take power once the U.S.-Israel campaign is finished.

Israel’s defense minister said Wednesday on X that whoever Iran picks to be the country’s next supreme leader, he will be “a target for elimination.”

“Every leader appointed by the Iranian terror regime to continue and lead the plan to destroy Israel, to threaten the United States and the free world and the countries of the region, and to suppress the Iranian people — will be a target for elimination,” Israel Katz wrote.

The Israeli military also said it hit buildings in Tehran associated with the Basij, the all-volunteer force of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard that conducted the bloody crackdown on protesters in January that killed thousands and saw tens of thousands detained in the country.

Israel and the U.S. have said they want to see the Iranian public overthrow its theocracy.

Iran’s leaders are scrambling to replace Khamenei, who ruled the country for 37 years. It’s only the second time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that a new supreme leader is being chosen. Potential candidates range from hard-liners committed to confrontation with the West to reformists who seek diplomatic engagement.

Israeli military spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said the Israeli military on Tuesday struck a building in the Iranian city of Qom where clerics were expected to meet to discuss selecting a new supreme leader. He said the army was still assessing whether anyone was hit.

The semiofficial Fars and Tasnim news agencies, both believed to be close to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, linked the building to Iran’s Assembly of Experts and said Wednesday there was no meeting ongoing there at the time of the attack. Fars said that the assembly was meeting remotely, without elaborating.

The U.S.-Israeli strikes have killed at least 787 people in Iran, according to the Red Crescent Society.

Kuwait, which had previously reported a single death, said Wednesday that an 11-year-old girl was killed by falling shrapnel as Kuwaiti forces were intercepting “hostile aerial targets.” In addition, three people were killed in the United Arab Emirates and one in Bahrain.

Six U.S. Army Reserve soldiers were killed by a drone strike Sunday on a command center in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait.

Rising reported from Bangkok, and Magdy from Cairo. Elena Becatoros in Athens, Greece, Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Giovanna Dell'Orto in Miami contributed to this report.

Andrew Coady and his daughter Keira, right, talk about his son, Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa, outside their home, Tuesday, March 3, 2026, in West Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

This image provided by U.S. Central Command shows aircraft on the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) that are operating in support of the war in Iran, on Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (U.S. Navy via AP)

A police car blocks a street leading to the U.S. consulate after an Iranian drone struck a parking lot outside the compound, sparking a small fire in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, early Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)