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The murder of former New Orleans Saints player Will Smith continues with its many twists and turns as reports surface of the New Orleans Police Department investigating claims that Smith was the first person to fire his gun before getting killed.

At the heart of the claims are some witness reports and allegations that the athlete retrieved a gun from his car before he was shot and killed in a confrontation with Cardell Hayes, a notion that authorities are seriously looking at.

Talking with a source close to the investigation, WWL First News reports that detectives are working to determine definitively if allegations are true that Smith not only got his gun out of his car, but also fired at least one shot.

Hayes’ defense attorney, John Fuller, has suggested his client did not shoot Smith’s wife, Racquel and stated that ballistics testing would prove that the wounds to Racquel’s legs were not from bullets from his Hayes’ gun.

According to the source, detectives are investigating if it was actually Smith who accidentally shot his wife as she intervened to try and stop his confrontation with Hayes, who admits, through his lawyer, that he fatally shot Will Smith multiple times. Fuller stated that Hayes shot Smith in self-defense.

Police point out that Smith was partially in his SUV when he was shot seven times in the back and once in the side.

WWL notes that one of the men Smith had been eating with just before his death, Reserve Police Officer Billy Ceravolo, has now hired a lawyer amid allegations he helped put Smith’s gun back in the car after the shooting.

With that, investigators want to know if Ceravolo helped cover up the truth. As it stands now, the retired NOPD captain has been stripped of his reserve status with the department.

In addition to the NOPD, federal investigators are reportedly looking into the case and the allegations of a cover up.

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(Photo Source: AP)