Brian Blades Charged With Manslaughter

Brian Blades, a receiver with the Seattle Seahawks, was charged Tuesday with manslaughter in his cousin’s fatal shooting. Police say the shooting occurred after Blades took out his gun to confront his brother.

Blades, 29, was in Seattle preparing for training camp, but made arrangements to return to Florida when his attorney was notified of the warrant charging him with manslaughter, a second-degree felony.

“We’ll comply with the warrant, and Brian will come back immediately from Seattle, and he will return to Seattle as soon as he can,” his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, said.

Blades has refused to talk to police about the July 5 shooting, saying he was too distraught. But at a news conference last week, he called the shooting an accident.

Charles Blades, 34, was fatally shot in the chin with Brian Blades’ .38-caliber semiautomatic handgun at the player’s home after the men returned from Independence Day celebrations.

Police said Tuesday that Brian Blades had tried to intervene in an argument between his brother, Bennie Blades, a defensive back for the Detroit Lions, and Bennie’s ex-girlfriend.

Brian Blades went to his house to get his gun to intervene in the dispute over custody of Bennie’s daughter. Charles Blades followed him to a bedroom to restrain him, Plantation Police Sgt. Michael Price said at a news conference Tuesday.

“There was some kind of struggle as [Brian] Blades was trying to leave the room,” Price said. “Charles Blades was attempting to stop him.”

Police were not waiting for Blades to surrender.

“We are out actively looking for him now,” Price said.