Nationals Park Shooting: 3 Injured, MLB Game Suspended
Three people were injured in a shooting Saturday night outside Nationals Park in Washington, an incident that saw baseball fans and players scrambling for safety during a game between the Washington Nationals and San Diego Padres that was eventually suspended.
"I just want to assure the public that at no time during this incident were individuals inside the stadium attending the game in any kind of danger,'' according to Ashan Benedict, executive assistant chief of police for DC's Metropolitan Police Department. "This was not an active shooter incident and it's not being investigated as such. Everything took place outside the stadium.''
A fan outside of the stadium was one of three people wounded, however, and fans and media members who were inside the ballpark reported hearing multiple gunshot-like sounds during the sixth inning of the game.
Fans fled their seats and sought shelter due to hearing the gunfire, though police later made it clear that the "shootout'' was the result of an incident between people stationed in two cars outside the stadium. The other two injuries, officials said, involved people who were in those cars, police said.
The fan who was shot, a woman, is expected to recover, police said.
Benedict said. Police initially said in statements posted on Twitter that four people were shot.The Washington Nationals had fans shelter-in-place inside the stadium during the immediate aftermath of the gunfire, according to Scott Fear, vice president for public safety and security for the Washington Nationals. A message on the scoreboard shortly after the shooting told fans to remain inside the baseball park, but it was later updated to say it was safe for fans to leave the stadium.
The remainder of the game was suspended until Sunday afternoon, the Nationals announced on Twitter.
"Hope everyone is safe! Just keep the prayers up thank you everyone that help in the front line! God bless," wrote San Diego Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. on Twitter.
READ MORE: Texas Rangers Info Stacked Here; Latest Gallo Trade Buzz
