Former NFL star Antonio Brown has been captured, officials said Thursday, ending a more than four-month search for the wide receiver who is accused of opening fire at a crowded Miami event.
Miami police spokesperson Mike Vega confirmed Brown’s apprehension, but declined to elaborate on where or exactly when the former player was taken into custody.
“Miami Police confirm that U.S. Marshals have apprehended Antonio Brown and that he has been extradited to the U.S.,” Vega said.
On Thursday evening, Miami's chief of police said that Brown was in custody in Newark, N.J., and would be extradited to Miami.
"Let this serve as a clear message: No matter who you are or where you run, we will pursue the facts, identify you, locate you, and bring you to justice," Chief Manuel Morales said in a statement. "To anyone even considering committing a crime in Miami — know this: We will find you."
Brown was wanted in connection with a shooting on May 16 outside an amateur boxing event in the Little Haiti neighborhood of Miami, where videos appeared to show the former player in a melee where gunshots could be heard.
Brown, 37, had been posting regularly on his social media accounts despite his apparent efforts to evade capture.
Last week, he posted an advertisement for online sports betting website BC Game to more than 15 million Instagram followers. The video showed Brown at an unspecified location behind the wheel of a black Lamborghini.
“Locked in, living good, and VIP energy hits different,” he wrote, adding a diamond emoji. “Appreciate the love!”
One of the comments appeared to acknowledge the charges against Brown.
“On the run is crazy lmaooooo,” the user wrote.
Brown played in parts of 12 seasons in the NFL, most with the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he once appeared to be on a Hall of Fame trajectory.
He led the league in receiving yards in 2014 and 2017 and in touchdown catches in 2018. Brown caught a scoring pass in the 2021 Super Bowl, as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Kansas City Chiefs to end that closed-door Covid season.
His career ended about 11 months later in spectacularly odd fashion, with him taking off his shirt and running off the MetLife Stadium field during a blowup with then-Bucs coach Bruce Arians.
