Lawyer: Pierce to Testify for Grand Jury If Asked

Bachner said he could not comment on a report that Pierce took Burress' gun to his home and later gave it back to Burress' wife, Tiffany. Without identifying names, police said they wanted to speak to anyone with relevant information about the shooting or the events afterward.

New York Giants' Plaxico Burress, right, arrives at Manhattan Supreme Court for arraignment with an...

New York Giants' Plaxico Burress, right, arrives at Manhattan Supreme Court for arraignment with an unidentified man Monday, Dec. 1, 2008, in New York. Burress accidentally shot himself at a Manhattan nightclub Friday evening and was treated at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. He was released Saturday. (AP Photo/David Karp)

(AP)

Giants spokesman Pat Hanlon acknowledged on Wednesday that Pierce called team trainer Ronnie Barnes after the shooting and that Barnes told Pierce to take the injured player to New York Presbyterian.

Hanlon said Thursday the Giants alerted NFL security about the early Saturday morning shooting at a Manhattan nightclub, saying the team left it to the league to alert police. The NFL said its security department then did contact police.

But police say the NFL was not forthcoming about the shooting.

Police said the NFL called a detective squad in upper Manhattan between 10:30 and 11:30 a.m. — not to report the shooting but to seek information on whether any 911 calls were made in connection with the shooting and whether Burress had been admitted to a hospital.

The highest-ranking member of the police department called was a lieutenant, called at home around 12:20 p.m. Saturday, police said. By then, police were canvassing area hospitals — acting on media reports, not information from the NFL. Burress, however, already had been discharged.

"The information we were provided was rumored reports of the shooting of Plaxico Burress being reported on ESPN and elsewhere, and not information provided by the NFL," said NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Public Information Paul Browne.

The Giants said Wednesday the team trainer sent Burress to New York Presbyterian because he wanted Burress near the Hospital for Special Surgery, which is located next door, in case the injury to his right thigh required any orthopedic work by team physicians.

The team said Mark Drakos, a doctor from the Hospital for Special Surgery who has treated Giants players in the past, examined Burress after he was paged by New York Presbyterian. The team said it was a coincidence that Drakos was on call.