A fun and family-friendly baseball event was ruined with unexplained gunshots on and near the baseball field.
The Little League team from the South Durham Little League was competing on a Sunday morning in Wilson, North Carolina, east of Raleigh, where previous shootings have taken place.
A person in the audience was recording the game when three gunshots were fired. All of the children on the field dropped to the ground in fear, and several coaches crawled out to protect them. Off to the left in the dug-out, parents could be seen blocking the children who were waiting their turn on the bench.
One of the gunshots was so close, it left a bullet hole on the baseball diamond.
There was also a car that had been damaged by the gunshots in a nearby parking lot, but no other damages or injuries were reported.
You can watch the video footage here:
The Wilson Police Department investigated the incident and was unable to confirm the owner of the gun or why the shots were fired. It did seem at least that none of the children or adults present were targets for the shooting.
Parents were not so sure, however, with how close the gunshots sounded and with the arrival of the bullet on the field.
Parent Pius Walcourt stressed:
"One of the shots impacted in the outfield right by my son and there were several players that were right there also."
After the incident, the South Durham Little League released a statement on Facebook:
"Our 8u and 9u teams have withdrawn from the State Championship Tournaments after yesterday’s shooting incident in Wilson."
"Not the way we wanted the All-Star runs to end for these amazing teams, but in the end, it was the only choice we could make."
They then shared a copy of the email that was sent to all of the families:
"Some of you are aware that there was a shooting during the 8U State Tournament in Wilson, NC this morning."
"Our 8U Orange All-Star team was playing a game, along with several other teams. We are extremely grateful no one from our team or any Little League team was physically hurt and all players, coaches, families, and umpires are safe."
"We know there is information on social media about the shooting, and we want to make the league aware of what is known to us at this time."
"We know shots were fired in the direction of the baseball fields. We know at least one bullet landed on one of the baseball fields, while players were on the field. We know the back window of a car parked by one of the fields was struck by a bullet. We know that no one has been apprehended for this shooting."
"The executive committee of South Durham Little League, in consultation with the coaches of the 8U Orange All-Star team and the 9U All-Star team, has made the decision to pull both teams out of the NC State Tournament that was being played in Wilson, NC. This was not a decision made lightly, but it also was not a difficult decision for us to make."
"The events were too traumatic for us to even consider having the teams return to Wilson to play. We are not alone in deciding not to return. At the time of writing this, 4 of the other 6 leagues participating in the 9U tournament and 5 of the other 11 leagues in the 8U tournament have withdrawn."
"Tragic events such as these are happening far too often in our country. We too often think it won’t happen to us. Today, it happened for 7 and 8-year-old Little League players, for children and coaches we all know."
"It was a terrifying situation for all involved. Video shows coaches bravely covering players with their bodies and crawling off baseball fields. No child or parent should ever experience anything like this. Our hearts are heavy tonight."
Members of the community were grateful that all present were safe.
South Durham Little League/Facebook
South Durham Little League/Facebook
South Durham Little League/Facebook
South Durham Little League/Facebook
South Durham Little League/Facebook
South Durham Little League/Facebook
South Durham Little League/Facebook
South Durham Little League/Facebook
The game was canceled for that day to hopefully be rescheduled.
Shaken up by the incident, families and players were happy to return home physically unharmed.
Jane Rosenberg
Jane Rosenberg
@arianagrande/Instagram
@arianagrande/Instagram