Father of NFL Player Gunned Down at Oklahoma City Airport

Police shut down Oklahoma's busiest airport for hours Tuesday after the father of Kansas City Chiefs player James Winchester was shot to death.

The suspected gunman was found dead at Will Rogers World Airport from a gunshot wound that may have been self-inflicted, Oklahoma City police Capt. Paco Balderrama said.

The man, who wasn't identified, was found in a truck on the second level of the parking garage, Balderrama said.

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Police: OKC Airport Shooting 'Was Not Random,' Suspect Is Dead

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Southwest Airlines identified the victim as one of its employees, Michael Winchester, who would have turned 52 next week.

Balderrama said the airport was ordered closed after police got a call shortly before 1 p.m. (2 p.m. ET) "of shots fired in the parking lot area of the airport." He described the shooting as "premeditated" and "not random," but he gave no other details.

The University of Oklahoma confirmed to NBC News that Michael Winchester was the father of James Winchester, a veteran long snapper on kicking plays for the Chiefs.

Both Winchesters played football at the university, Michael as a punter during the mid-1980s, winning the national championship in 1985, and James as a long snapper and special teams member in 2010 and 2011.

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A longtime family friend, James Harryman, acting undersheriff of McClain County, said Michael Winchester lived in the town of Washington, where he raised three daughters in addition to son.

"What I've seen of Mike, he was a family man, great guy, loved his family, loved his kids, grandkids, was always there for them and with them at ball games," Harryman told NBC station KFOR of Oklahoma City.