A Little League state championship tournament had to cancel a day of games after shots rang out, causing players to drop to the field to avoid being hit.
The incident happened Sunday morning in Wilson, North Carolina, WITN reported.
Video recorded by a parent showed players, coaches and umpires “hitting the dirt.”
The South Durham Little League said that some coaches covered the players with their bodies to keep them safe.
“We were actually going into the bottom of the fifth inning, our team had just got out of the field,” Derek Wallace, Franklin 8U All-Star team head coach, told WLOS.
Wallace said the coaches got kids off the field as quickly as they could and into a cornfield across the road where they waited until police said it was safe, WLOS reported.
One shot buzzed across the outfield, landing near a player.
An unoccupied minivan in the Gillette Athletic Complex parking lot had its windows shot out, WITN reported.
Two teams from the South Durham Little League have decided to drop out from the tournament, according to the league’s post on Facebook.
Wilmington Little League has also decided to drop out from the tournament, CNN reported.
Henderson County Little League’s team left the tournament too, according to its post on Facebook.
This is the second time shots have rung out near a youth baseball field during a game this year.
Earlier this year, gunfire was heard near a field in South Carolina that had players and coaches looking for cover, CNN reported.
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