NFL: Details revealed in Burress' shooting

NEW YORK — It started as a typical Friday night at the Latin Quarter: exclusive guest list, $200 bottles of Moet champagne and well-dressed clientele lining up to pay a $30 cover charge to party at the swank Manhattan club.

Then a few very, very important people rolled up in a black Cadillac Escalade: New York Giant stars Plaxico Burress and Antonio Pierce. The two sauntered inside, heading for the VIP section amid the pulsing merengue and hip-hop, Burress with a loaded, illegal gun tucked into the waistband of his track pants.

Within an hour, the Latin Quarter would be a crime scene and the center of a drama that has transfixed the sports world and left Burress' career in jeopardy.

One week later, authorities are still trying to piece together details of what happened that night. But interviews with investigators and those connected to the case paint a picture of chaos, extraordinary secrecy and a frustrating hunt for answers by the police department.

Burress and Pierce showed up at the club at 1:20 a.m. Burress bypassed the line of patrons and got into the club despite the semiautomatic gun in his pants and ordered a drink.

Around 1:50 a.m., as Burress fumbled with the glass in his hand, the .40-caliber Glock slipped down his leg, and as he grabbed at it, he accidentally pulled the trigger and shot himself in the thigh. Witnesses reported hearing a "pop" as his legs started to quiver and the pistol dropped from his pant leg to the floor.

"Take me to a hospital," Burress said, according to investigators

Despite the gunfire and blood, no one at the club called police. In fact, investigators say, no one reported the incident at all. Not the players or the hospital where he was treated, even though the law states gunshot wounds must be reported.

After the gun slipped to the floor, a club security officer grabbed it, unloaded it and held it while Pierce helped his injured, bleeding teammate to the street and back into the Escalade. He helped Burress, shaking from pain, into the back seat. Pierce hopped in the front with an unknown woman in the driver's seat. As they started to pull away, a club security guard came to the Escalade's window.

"What do you want me to do with this?" he asked, referring to the pistol, according to police. Pierce threw it in the glove compartment of the Escalade, police said, then called team trainer Ronnie Barnes. The trainer told him to take Burress to New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, about 20 blocks away.