College Baseball Player Shot While in Bullpen During Game

A college baseball pitcher was hit by a stray bullet while sitting in the bullpen, a case that police have referred to as “incredibly bad luck.”

The baseball player’s identity has not been released, though he was among the relief pitchers for Texas A&M-Texarkana, which was playing a home game against the University of Houston-Victoria when gunfire erupted nearby.

The incident occurred about 5:30 p.m. local time, Texarkana police said, calling it “some type of altercation” in the neighborhood near the stadium, officially known as George Dobson Field at Spring Lake Park.

One of the stray bullets struck the pitcher, 18, in the chest. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he underwent surgery. He is in stable condition, the school said.

College Baseball Player Shot During Game

“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 gunfight took place in the front yard of a home after an argument between two male individuals, police added.

“One of those errant rounds traveled about 400 yards and struck the innocent victim at the ball field,” police said.

A teenager and an adult have been named as suspects, per the New York Post.

“Detectives have identified the suspected gunmen as 17-year-old Kamauri Butler, who is now wanted on a charge of aggravated assault, and 20-year-old Demarco Banks, who has a warrant out for his arrest for deadly conduct,” the Post wrote, citing the two individuals who were allegedly shooting at each other.

Police said the shooting of the ballplayer was, again, a case of rotten luck.

“The disturbance and shooting all happened on Lynda Street and had nothing to do with the park itself or any event going on there,” police said. “Tragically, one of the shots that Butler and Banks fired at each other on Lynda Street traveled several hundred feet and struck the unsuspecting victim at the ballpark.”

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