Baseball game between San Diego Padres and Washington Nationals suspended after shooting outside stadium
The shooting outside Nationals Park left three people injured, according to police; the gunshots caused panic among fans inside the stadium, some of whom ducked for cover and hid behind seats as announcers warned people to stay inside the park
Sunday 18 July 2021 08:00, UK
A baseball game between the San Diego Padres and Washington Nationals was suspended in the sixth inning on Saturday night after police said there was a shooting outside the stadium.
The shooting outside Nationals Park - an exchange of gunfire between people in two cars - left three people injured, according to Ashan Benedict, the Metropolitan Police Department's executive assistant police chief.
One of the people shot was a woman who was attending the game. She was struck outside the stadium but her injuries were not considered life-threatening.
Two people who were in one of the cars later walked into a local hospital with gunshot wounds and were being questioned by investigators. The extent of their injuries was not immediately clear.
Investigators were still trying to locate the second vehicle involved in the shooting.
The gunshots caused panic among fans inside the stadium, some of whom ducked for cover, hid underneath tables and behind seats as announcers warned people to stay inside the park.
The Padres had just taken the field for the bottom of the sixth when several loud gunshot sounds were heard from the left-field side of the ballpark.
Fans sitting in the left-field side quickly began leaving through the center-field gate. A short time later, fans along the first base side began briskly leaving their seats.
Some fans crowded into the Padres' dugout on the third-base side for cover, while sirens could be heard from outside the park.
The Nationals initially announced there had been an incident outside the stadium and posted a message on the scoreboard telling fans to remain inside the stadium.
About 10 minutes later, the team tweeted: "A shooting has been reported outside of the Third Base Gate at Nationals Park. Fans are encouraged to exit the ballpark via the CF and RF gates at this time."
More than two dozen police cars, ambulances, and fire engines were on the street outside the third-base side of the stadium and a police helicopter hovered overhead.
The shooting comes as Washington, like many other cities in the US, is facing a rising number of violent crimes and homicides.
