Former Cardinals LB killed in shooting outside his home

PHOENIX -- Former Arizona Cardinals linebacker Simon Shanks was fatally shot outside his home while his wife and children fled unharmed from three assailants by jumping out a back window, police said.

Shanks, who played for the Cardinals in 1995, was shot Thursday night by one of three men who came to his home, Detective Tony Morales said. He died hours later at Good Samaritan Hospital. A second man working on a car with the 34-year-old Shanks was shot in the neck and is hospitalized.

Shanks' wife, Yolanda Yvette Shanks, and the children escaped when the men entered the house, Morales said. Investigators are trying to identify the men.

They also were trying to find a friend of Shanks known as "Frenchie." He was driving the Shanks' car that day and apparently fled from the home in the car before police arrived. Morales said he might have been shot. There's also evidence someone in the home fired back at the assailants.

Shanks played at East Tennessee and Coahoma (Okla.) Junior College. He led the Cardinals' special teams in tackles with 27 in his lone season with Arizona.