Wife of Chiefs Offensive Coordinator Shot - Son Taken Into Police Custody
Tragedy has struck one of the NFL’s most prominent teams.
According to ESPN, Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy left the team’s training camp after learning that his wife, 57-year-old Mia Bieniemy, had suffered multiple gunshot wounds at the couple’s home in Ashburn, Virginia, on Sunday evening.
Police arrested the couple’s son, 27-year-old Elijah Zion Bieniemy, and charged him with “malicious wounding, use of a firearm in commission of a felony, and discharge of a firearm inside of a dwelling,” according to ESPN.
Mia Bieniemy suffered “serious injuries” from gunshots to the chest and arm, police in Loudoun County, Virginia, said. She was hospitalized in stable condition.
Meanwhile, police said that the younger Bieniemy was being held without bond at a detention center in Loudoun County.
“Our hearts go out to Eric Bieniemy and his family. Thoughts and prayers with them,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said, according to the Associated Press. “I can’t get into details on it, but things happen sometimes, and Eric will work through it. He has a great support group here, as does his family, as needed, and we’ll just let time take care of it from there. But Mia is stable, which is a plus.”
The Chiefs’ Monday workout at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, Missouri, was closed to the public. The team has the day off Tuesday before the first full-squad workout on Wednesday.
This season marked Bieniemy’s return to head coach Andy Reid’s staff.
From 2013 through 2017, Bieniemy served as Kansas City’s running backs coach. Then, in 2018 — the same year Patrick Mahomes took over as starting quarterback — Reid elevated Bieniemy to offensive coordinator.
All told, Bieniemy spent 10 seasons on the Chiefs coaching staff, helping the team to two of its three Super Bowl championships in the last decade.
After leaving the Chiefs in 2023, Bieniemy took over as offensive coordinator of the Washington Commanders. In that role, he lasted only one season. He moved on, first to UCLA as offensive coordinator and then to the Chicago Bears last season as running backs coach.
He and his wife, however, still have a house in the D.C. suburbs, scene of Sunday’s shooting.
As a player, the 5’7″ Bieniemy carved out a nine-year career as a backup running back. He appeared in 142 games, mostly with the then-San Diego Chargers and Cincinnati Bengals, and scored 11 touchdowns.
In recent years, of course, the Chiefs under Reid have established themselves as the NFL’s latest dynasty. Three Super Bowl victories, combined with tight end Travis Kelce’s romantic connection (and now marriage) to pop superstar Taylor Swift, have brought the team relentless attention.
Sadly, Reid is no stranger to family- and football-related tragedies.
In 2012, according to The Spun by Athlon Sports, 29-year-old Garrett Reid died of an accidental drug overdose during training camp while serving on his father’s Philadelphia Eagles coaching staff.
The elder Reid left Philadelphia after that season.
Then, on Feb. 4, 2021, Reid’s son Britt, while working as an outside linebackers coach with the Chiefs, drove his vehicle while intoxicated and slammed into two sedans, causing six injuries, including two children, according to USA Today. Britt Reid then served less than two years of a three-year prison sentence before receiving a commutation from then-Republican Gov. Mike Parson of Missouri.
Kansas City will open the 2026 NFL season at home against the Denver Broncos on ESPN’s “Monday Night Football.”
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