Posted by ESPN.com's Matt Mosley
When news of Colts wide receiver Marvin Harrison's possible involvement in a shooting first broke Friday afternoon, it sounded like a hoax. In addition to being a certain Hall of Famer, Harrison is one of the classiest (and quietest) players in the league.
I'm familiar with the guy who broke the story, WIP's Anthony Gargano, because I've been on his popular mid-day radio show in Philadelphia a few times. Anthony always brings a unique opinion, but on Friday, he delivered a major scoop.
According to Gargano's source, the alleged victim in the shooting entered Harrison's North Philadelphia bar, Playmakers, at about 5 p.m. Tuesday and engaged in an argument with the player, who attended high school in the area. The victim eventually left the bar with Harrison following him. When gunfire broke out later, the victim was grazed on the hand and a young girl suffered a minor eye injury from flying glass from a car that was struck by a bullet.
Gargano also reported that ballistic tests revealed that the gun that fired the shots was a custom-made Belgian weapon, much like one Harrison owns. Harrison admitted to police that it was his weapon, according to the Philadelphia Daily News, but maintained that he was not involved in the shooting. The gun was recovered in a bucket at Harrison's local detail shop and tests showed that it had fired the same type of bullets that were found at the scene of the shooting.
On Friday, Harrison's agent, Tom Condon, talked exclusively to ESPN's Chris Mortensen:
"I've spoken with Marvin and I've spoken with his attorney, and they say the reports are erroneous. Marvin was not involved in any shooting, and he is not the subject of this investigation."
With all due respect to Condon, I'll believe the "reports are erroneous" when those words come from the Philadelphia police. Even if Harrison wasn't involved in the shooting, the gun could end up getting him in trouble. Under Pennsylvania law, you don't have to be present to be held accountable for your gun's actions. If police determine that Harrison's gun was used in the shooting, he could end up with a misdemeanor, which could certainly result an a suspension.
Here's the latest report from Indianapolis, where rookie minicamp just got a little more interesting. I'm sure a shooting incident possibly involving Harrison was the last thing Tony Dungy thought he'd be dealing with this weekend.
The headline on the front page of the Philadelphia Daily News tomorrow is "Philadelphia Fumble." OK, let's send it back to Mike Sando in our Arizona bureau.
