Baseball stars recall 'nightmare' after gunshots

When the gunshots started to echo each astir Nationals Park, San Diego Padres prima shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. rapidly thought astir the team's household members and friends successful the seats.

Tatis bolted from the seat down the near tract enactment Saturday night, helped unfastened a gross to the stands and began ushering a radical backmost to the dugout for shelter.

"Our family, loved ones, small kids. Feel similar idiosyncratic needed to spell get them," Tatis said Sunday. "I consciousness similar the safest spot was the clubhouse and we were trying to get our families into a harmless place."

The apical fractional of the sixth inning successful the crippled betwixt the Padres and Washington Nationals had conscionable ended successful beforehand of astir 33,000 fans erstwhile respective shots were heard connected South Capitol Street, conscionable extracurricular the third-base broadside of the stadium.

But successful the moment, nary 1 knew whether the accelerated bid of shots was coming from wrong the ballpark oregon beyond.

Shots are heard astatine the Padres v Nationals MLB crippled (Getty)

"It doesn't marque the concern better, but idiosyncratic shooting a firearm successful the stadium would person been a wholly antithetic situation," longtime Nationals prima Ryan Zimmerman said.

The shooting, an speech of gunfire betwixt radical successful 2 cars, near 3 radical injured, according to Ashan Benedict, the Metropolitan Police Department's enforcement adjunct constabulary chief.

A pistillate who had attended the crippled was waiting for an Uber extracurricular the parkland erstwhile she was struck by gunfire, according to a constabulary report. She suffered a graze coiled to her back, constabulary officials said.

Police said the different 2 radical who walked into a infirmary with gunshot wounds were successful unchangeable condition.

Wil Myers #5 of the San Diego Padres looks for household aft what was believed to beryllium shots were heard (Getty)

Padres manager Jayce Tingler was connected his mode to spot sheet umpire Jordan Baker astir a pitching alteration successful a crippled San Diego led 8-4 erstwhile the shooting erupted.

"He's like, 'Did you perceive that?'″ Tingler recalled Baker saying.

"I'm like, 'yeah, I deliberation so' and it benignant of registered what it perchance could person been and evidently it was conscionable a nightmare."

A chaotic country rapidly developed. As the Padres cleared the field, immoderate fans rushed to permission the stadium portion others ducked and tried to hide, looking for cover.

"Everybody running. It was crazy. You couldn't fig retired what was going on. If it was 1 oregon 2 people," Tatis said. "I was conscionable trying to get to the safest spot and get our families."

Fans unreserved to evacuate aft proceeding during a crippled betwixt a the San Diego Padres and the Washington Nationals (Getty)

Tatis and teammates Manny Machado and Wil Myers drew praise for helping usher — and adjacent transportation — fans retired of harm's way.

"The concern changed immediately," Tatis said. "There's nary longer players, fans. I consciousness similar everybody's conscionable people, quality beings trying to beryllium secure."

The crippled was halted past and completed connected Sunday, with the Padres finishing disconnected a 10-4 win. Washington won 8-7 successful the regularly scheduled game.

The games went connected without incident, rather a opposition from the erstwhile night.

As the shots rang out, Nationals manager Dave Martinez was making definite his players were safe.

"Then I started worrying astir their families and trying to bash the champion I could to get them down to the players," Martinez said. "And I started worrying astir the fans arsenic well."

Seeing the absorption connected the 3rd basal broadside of the stadium, fans connected the archetypal basal broadside began fleeing their seats arsenic well. Some of them went down to the field.

"There was a clump of fans, they were successful our dugout and I wanted to get them harmless arsenic well," Martinez said. "We got them successful done the passageway and got them successful safely and tried to support them safe. For maine it was conscionable astir protecting our radical and doing the champion I tin to enactment calm."

Like Tingler, Martinez got affectional recounting the events.

Minutes aft the shots were heard, a connection appeared connected the Nationals Park scoreboard saying that the incidental was extracurricular the parkland and fans should stay inside. About 10 minutes later, fans were instructed to permission by the center- and right-field gates.

"We started to get connection that everything happened close extracurricular the stadium," Tingler said. "That's erstwhile we started to consciousness a small spot better. You ne'er consciousness great."

In a connection Sunday, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser and squad proprietor Mark Lerner said constabulary don't deliberation "the Washington Nationals, the ballpark oregon fans were the target" of the shooting.

"We admit the tremendous practice of the fans astatine Saturday night's crippled who did each that was asked of them nether precise stressful circumstances, and the constabulary and the occurrence exigency aesculapian unit who responded," they said.

The Nationals announced fans holding tickets for Saturday nighttime could redeem them for different crippled this season.

"Davey Martinez said it champion — our fans are our family. We admit each and each 1 of you and we look guardant to seeing you backmost astatine Nationals Park," the squad said.

For a regular dose of the champion of the breaking quality and exclusive contented from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!