Miami-Dade County authorities are searching for Antonio Brown. The retired wide receiver is wanted on an attempted murder charge stemming from an incident that occurred at a celebrity boxing match in May, the Washington Post’s David Ovalle reports.
Police are aiming to apprehend Brown on a charge of attempted murder with a firearm; he is to be placed under house arrest pending a trial, according to Ovalle, who indicates a judge signed a warrant in this case Wednesday. Brown battled a number of off-field issues late in his career but nothing on this level. The former Steelers, Raiders, Patriots and Buccaneers pass catcher has not played since his midgame walk-off at MetLife Stadium in December 2021.
Responding to reports of gunshots at the aforementioned boxing event in Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood, police detained Brown but later released him. An off-duty officer observed Brown involved in a physical altercation with another man, per Ovalle, who notes observers in the parking lot at the event labeled Brown the shooter. Brown, 36, did not have a weapon on him when officers patted him down, but he is accused of taking a security officer’s gun. Investigators found two spent shell casings and an empty gun holster at the scene, a warrant reads.
A Fort Lauderdale, Fla., resident, Brown is shown on a cellphone video — one obtained by police — punching a man and appearing to take the security officer’s gun before running toward the man he punched, Ovalle reports. The video includes the alleged victim ducking. Meeting with police May 21, the man Brown allegedly punched said the former All-Pro receiver “began to run toward him with a firearm” before shooting at him twice, possibly grazing the man’s neck. He and Brown struggled for the gun, according to the warrant.
Brown walked away as police arrived; the alleged victim, who was treated at a nearby hospital, told police he has known Brown since 2022. Released later that night in May, Brown said on social media people attempting to steal his jewelry “jumped” him. More developments will undoubtedly emerge from this situation, and it continues a spiral for a player once viewed as the NFL’s premier wide receiver.
A first-team All-Pro each season from 2014-17, Brown pushed his way out of Pittsburgh before washing out in Oakland — having played zero games following a trade to the Raiders — and then playing in all of one game upon arriving in New England as a 2019 free agent. Multiple women accused Brown of sexual misconduct, and an eight-game 2020 suspension also covered an incident involving a delivery driver — one that brought felony charges and an eventual no-contest plea — but Brown resurfaced with the Bucs and helped them win Super Bowl LV. The team re-signed Brown in 2021 but waived him after the bizarre incident during a Week 17 game against the Jets.
A domestic battery arrest order for Brown also emerged in December 2022. Brown will be a surefire Hall of Fame candidate when first eligible in 2027, but he now has a significant legal matter to handle.
