Chelios statement from Thursday morning
Jan 4, 2007
Red Wings defenseman Chris Chelios appeared at Detroit Police Headquarters Thursday mornning to address the situation regarding Tuesday's double homicide at his downtown Cheli's Chili Bar. The Wings begin their five-game road trip tonight against the Sharks, and have told Chelios to join them when he's ready.
This is what Chelios said at Police Headquarters:
"Before I read my statement, I'd like to say the following to all of you in the media. We’ve had a great relationship since I moved to Detroit and I’m confident that will continue. I would ask that you respect my employees and our patrons today and over the next several days. We would like to keep things as "normal" as possible at our restaurants. Everyone has been through a lot and we all recognize this is a difficult situation.
I want to personally thank the Detroit Police Department and Chief Ella Bully Cummings for their professionalism. They were extremely responsive throughout this ordeal and kept me informed. As a downtown business owner -- and as a citizen -- I greatly appreciate the efforts and diligence they showed in handling this investigation. I am incredibly thankful this case could be solved quickly, and I am confident our justice system will handle it appropriately.
Personally and professionally, this has been very difficult. You never imagine something like this will happen.
Both Megan and Mark were good employees, but more importantly, they were part of my family. They were dedicated and hard working and this whole thing is a tragedy.
Unfortunately, in life, there are things none of us can explain. This is one of those times. We can all go over it time and time again but I don't think there will ever be any answers we like.
For now, we're focusing on Megan and Mark's families and doing what we can to help them. And, we're focusing on our employees -- helping them through this process.
We plan to re-open Cheli's Chili later this morning -- I know Megan and Mark would want us to do that. They were proud of what we have built here -- proud of the business and of what they helped build here. So, as difficult as it will be, we have realized that this was an isolated and senseless incident and we have got to start putting the pieces back together. Again, thank you for your consideration in respecting our employees feelings and privacy.
We’ve all had countless phone calls and messages of support and I want to thank the many friends, fans and entire community for their support -- and again, the Detroit Police Department for their efforts over the last 48 hours. I ask you to keep Megan and Mark and their families in your thoughts and prayers.
Thank you."
by Helene St. James
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