Bloodwinter Clan

Former NFL kicker sought in shooting at Siegfried & Roy home
Oct. 6, 2004
SportsLine.com wire reports

LAS VEGAS -- Former Oakland Raiders kicker Cole Ford is being sought in a drive-by shooting last month at the home of entertainers Siegfried & Roy, police said Wednesday.

Ford, 31, whose three-year NFL career ended in 1997 after a poor season, was named in a felony warrant stemming from the Sept. 21 shooting, Sgt. Chris Jones said.

Police identified Ford as the owner of a white minivan from which shots were allegedly fired at the compound owned by former illusionists Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn. No one was hurt, but police said shotgun pellets shattered windows and left a hole in a wall.

Police have not said if the men were home at the time.

Jones said police considered Ford armed and dangerous, and said he might be living in a low-budget hotel or camping in southern Nevada or nearby states.

Ford faces six felony warrant charges of discharging a firearm from a motor vehicle and two felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon.

Initially, the case was labeled a hate crime after a witness told police the gunman shouted that the entertainers should get out of the country. Later police said it was not bias related.

Ford was drafted out of Southern California in 1995 by the Pittsburgh Steelers, but was released before that season began. He signed with the Raiders, and remained with them for three seasons before being cut in training camp before the 1998 season.

After making 89 percent of his field goals in 1995 and 77 percent in 1996, he was successful on just 59 percent of his attempts in 1997.

Horn and friends celebrated his 60th birthday Sunday at the home northwest of the Las Vegas Strip -- a year to the day after a near-fatal mauling by a tiger left Horn partially paralyzed and forced the long-running Siegfried & Roy show to close.