CHARLOTTE — A baseball tournament on Sunday ended early after a shooting took place near Harding University High School.
“Had the umpire not been late, had he been on time, like I said, it could have been a very different situation,” said Jeanie Cooper, a parent who witnessed the shooting.
Cooper said the umpire of her son’s all-star baseball tournament served as a saving grace for many this past weekend. Her son was supposed to play ball with the Chester All-Stars on Alleghany Street. The game was set for 8:30 a.m. Shortly after the boys finished warming up, Cooper said gunfire erupted.
“All of a sudden, you could hear gunshots, but they sounded like they were in the neighborhood over or somewhere around there,” said Cooper.
As the gunshots got closer, Cooper said coaches and parents were forced to act as human shields. When bullets could be heard going through the wind, that’s when Cooper said everybody started running, ducking and taking cover. She could see bullets hit the ground.
According to a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department incident report, someone shot into an occupied vehicle.
Cooper said the shooting seemed to last for three minutes.
“It sounded about like 20 rounds went off,” she said.
Cooper ran and hid behind a concrete building. When she got there, she saw a teenage girl who was having a panic attack.
Cooper said she never thought her son’s all-star game would turn into a violent encounter for players, coaches and parents.
“Especially at a child’s baseball game on the Lord’s day at 8:30 a.m.,” said Cooper. “Like, who expects that? Who’s prepared for that? Seriously, it’s sad.”
Parents said Top Gun Baseball put on the tournament. Channel 9 reached out for a statement, but hasn’t gotten a response yet.
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