A teenage college baseball player required emergency surgery at hospital but is in a stable condition after being shot and wounded while playing in a Red River Athletic Conference game for Texas A&M-Texarkana against Houston-Victoria.
The damage was done by a stray bullet that struck the unidentified 18-year-old in the chest while sitting in the bullpen area at George Dobson Field in Texarkana. The city’s police department added that Demarco Banks, 20, who they suspect was involved in an altercation with Kamauri Butler, 17, that saw firearms discharged, turned himself in to the force on Monday morning.
Butler remains unaccounted for and is sought for aggravated assault following the incident. Police were called to the ballpark around 5:30pm.
"It appears that he was struck by a stray bullet from some type of altercation in a nearby neighbourhood to the west of the park,” police said in a statement on Saturday afternoon.
"One of those errant rounds travelled about 400 yards and struck the innocent victim at the ball field. Both Butler and Banks fled the area before officers got there, but we made arrests of three other men who were there after detectives obtained a search warrant for the house and several vehicles at the scene."
"Incredibly bad luck, bad place," is how police spokesperson Shawn Vaughn described the incident to the Texarkana Gazette. They added that it did not appear anyone present at the game was targeted.
The newspaper states that the shooting, which remains under investigation, took place around the fifth inning of the game. Vaughn adds that the force were alerted to shots being exchanged nearby around the same time.
“We initially received several calls of shots fired on Lynda Street, which is in a neighborhood just west of Spring Lake Park. Moments later, we received a 911 call that a baseball player at the park had collapsed and may have been shot,” police said.
“We were able to almost immediately determine that the two incidents were related, so as some officers were at the ball field rendering aid to the victim, other officers were on Lynda Street looking for any evidence or witnesses.”
The player’s school, Texas A&M-Texarkana, confirmed he was in stable condition, adding counselling services are available to players and fellow students "At this time we ask that you keep our student athlete, his family, teammates and friends in your prayers," they said in a statement.
After the incident, the game was called off, with the RRAC declaring it a no contest. For Texas A&M-Texarkana, it was their Senior Day game, marking the team's last regular season home game of the season.
The school are scheduled to take on LSU Alexandria in the RRAC Tournament game on Friday. Police also confirmed an annual Scout-O-Rama taking place in Spring Lake Park that day was called off as a precautionary measure.
