Former Blue Bomber shot and killed in Houston, son in custody: reports

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This article was published 29/07/2016 (2838 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Former Blue Bomber Antonio Armstrong was shot and killed along with his wife Dawn Armstong in their Houston home Friday, Texas media reported.

Police are reported to have taken their teenage son into custody.

News that the former football pro, who played with the National Football League and the Canadian Football League, spread quickly by social media, with the Blue Bombers tweeting out condolences shortly after the first reports.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of alumni Antonio Armstrong, who passed away today,” the Bombers tweeted out Friday evening.

The Houston Chronicle broke the news, reporting Friday that the couple’s teenage son was accused of  opening fire inside the family townhouse in Houston and was later taken into custody.

“Bullets flew and hit his mom and dad,” the paper’s website reported on the shooting Friday.

“She perished at the scene. Antonio Armstrong died hours later after transport to Memorial Hermann Hospital in critical condition,” according to the report.

News reports say Armstrong ran a family owned string of fitness centres in Houston and was an assistant pastor.

Well liked, the shooting deaths of Armstrong and his wife Dawn Armstrong triggered an outpouring of grief on their personal Facebook pages and expressions of surprise from a Houston homicide investigator on the case.

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The Houston police officer, Jimmy Dodson described the father as a “hard-working bread-winner” and said there appeared to be no friction in the household.

“It was kind of an all-American family,” the investigator told the Chronicle.

The teen was placed in juvenile custody. The couple had three children; the other two were reported home at the time but no one else was hurt, the paper reported.

Armstrong, 42, launched his pro football career when he was picked up by the San Francisco 49ers in the 1995 NFL draft. During his short NFL career, he also played for the Miami Dolphins and St. Louis Rams. 

In 1998, Armstrong  signed with the CFL’s B.C. Lions where he seemed to find his footing, playing two years then for the Blue Bombers in 2000.  He was Winnipeg’s defensive player of the year and named an East Division All-star in 2000. The same year he broke his left ankle but returned to the Bombers in 2001 when he started in the 2001 Grey Cup. The next year he retired from football for good.