Broncos' Williams had hoped to show kids the way out of violence

Jackson said there was a dispute at a nightclub several blocks from the shooting where Williams and his group had attended a party. He said the argument didn't specifically involve Williams, according to witnesses, and the confrontation only involved taunts and didn't get physical. He also said no shots were fired from inside the limo.

Police were searching for a white Suburban or Tahoe with dark-tinted windows.

The club identified by police advertised a New Year's Eve event celebrating the birthday of Denver Nuggets basketball player Kenyon Martin. The Nuggets canceled practice Monday.

Martin told The Denver Post that he and several Nuggets left the nightclub before midnight, before any problems arose. "I was there. He was there. I left. I saw him. That was about the extent of it," Martin told the newspaper.

The club was closed Monday night, a torn New Year's hat lying outside on the sidewalk.

Hours after the shooting, the limo sat in a snowbank beside Speer Boulevard, a main street through downtown. Police and technicians worked amid snow and ice from recent storms, using small yellow plastic markers to indicate possible evidence.

"His heart was so big, he was always giving to those who didn't have," said Rosalind Williams, who flew to Denver from Fort Worth. "It didn't even have to be for an agency or a charity. If he knew you didn't have, he'd hand it out of his pocket."

Williams was a second-round draft choice in 2005 out of Oklahoma State and teamed with Champ Bailey to give Denver one of the NFL's elite cornerback tandems.

"He was the greatest players I have coached in my 20 years," Oklahoma State secondary and special teams coach Joe DeForest said. "He wanted to prove to the world that he could play. ... He wanted to prove himself, and that's the way he approached every game. It was what made him a great player."

Williams' family was trying to arrange a funeral Saturday at the Great Commission Baptist Church in Fort Worth.

"All I can say is he did more in his 24 years ... maybe that's why he did so much because he knew his time on Earth was limited," Rosalind Williams said. "Guns are in the wrong hands. People have no respect for human life. Dee won't be back. The guy who pulled the trigger has to live with it."

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AP Sports Writer Arnie Stapleton in Denver and Associated Press Writers Steven K. Paulson in Denver and Jeff Carlton in Fort Worth contributed to this report.