More Arrests Expected in Plaxico Burress Case

Pierce Helped a Wounded Burress Exit the Nightclub

According to police, Burress, teammate Antonio Pierce, and two other individuals entered the Latin Quarter nightclub at about 1:00 a.m. Saturday after arriving in Pierce's Cadillac Escalade.

At 1:50 a.m. the shooting took place. When it did, the handgun magazine was removed, the pistol's chamber cleared and both gun and pistol were dropped on the nightclub floor.

With Pierce helping his wounded friend, the two jocks departed the club, meeting the Escalade as it pulled up driven by a female companion.

Pierce put Plaxico in the back seat of the deluxe SUV and climbed into the front passenger seat for the ride to the hospital.

As he did, a nightclub security man came up to the car, pistol and magazine in hand.

"What do you want me to do with this?" police said he asked.

"Throw it in the glove compartment," police said the security man was told.

He complied and the car sped off to New York Cornell Medical Center where a security camera recorded their arrival at about 2:04 a.m.

The personal physician is believed to have been waiting at the hospital, authorities said. According to authorities, at this point the hospital had a legal responsibility to alert police to the shooting. Under New York State law a hospital is required to notify authorities when a patient arrives requiring treatment for a gunshot wound.

The hospital has acknowledged that did not occur and in a statement said that it was a "violation of our policies and procedures." It also said it would investigate what measures it would take against any employee should they be found to have been involved in a cover up.

Police did not learn of the incident until it was reported on television. They then attempted to contact the New York Giants, the National Football League, and the hospital, authorities said. Afterward, the league stated it "reached out" to police. However police say no official called to notify them. "Instead they made calls to try to find out what police knew," one high ranking police official said. "That is not the same thing as notifying us."