WASHINGTON (WAVY/AP) — The San Diego-Washington baseball game has been halted after the Nationals said a shooting was reported outside the stadium.
DC Police have confirmed that three people were shot, but say there is not an active threat at this time.
The shooting, 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 who was shot was a woman who was attending the game and who was struck while she was outside the stadium, he said. Her injuries weren’t considered life-threatening.
The Padres had just taken the field for the bottom of the sixth when several loud pops were heard from the left-field side of the ballpark.
Fans sitting in left field 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 safety as sirens could be heard from outside the park.
The Nationals then announced there had been an incident was outside the stadium and posted a message on the scoreboard telling fans to remain inside the stadium.
Arman Ramnath, 27, from nearby Arlington, Virginia, and a recent law school graduate, said he and a friend were sitting in the third-base side of the stadium when they heard what sounded like fireworks.
“We weren’t sure what it was. Then everyone started ducking,” Ramnath said.
Ramnath said he and his friend ended hiding behind the seats for five or more minutes. After a while people started getting up and leaving, he said, but stadium announcements told fans to wait. Eventually, they were allowed to leave.
“It felt very surreal. I wasn’t really sure how to react,” Ramnath said. “I mean, you hear about it … but you never expect it to be something that could affect you.”
The Nationals said in a statement that the game has been suspended in the bottom of the 6th inning due to the incident. They will resume the game tomorrow at 1:05 p.m. and finish it as a nine-inning regulation game.
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