“At least a thousand kids” were either playing football or watching the games when shooting broke out Sunday, said Brice Jackson, commissioner and head of the football program with the Montgomery Village Sports Assocation.
On Sunday at 5:42 p.m., officers responded to a shooting that took place between two groups of people in the parking lot of South Valley Park in the 19000 block of Watkins Mill Road in Montgomery Village. This occurred while two youth football games were going on nearby.
A 17-year-old male, who was in the parking lot, was struck by a bullet and taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Three vehicles in the parking lot also were struck by bullets, according to Montgomery County Police.
Officers located shell casings in the parking lot of the park and on a grassy area near the 10100 block of Little Pond Place.
There are no suspects in custody at this time, and this is believed to be an isolated incident, according to police.
It was homecoming and two 11-year-old teams were playing when suddenly a swarm of people come running, said Jackson, adding, “It was like a tidal wave.”
According to Jackson, it was a gang related incident that began at the nearby Heron’s Cove condominiums and continued on a driveway entranceway and then to the park. “If you know Montgomery County, you know there are a lot of gang activity,” he said.
None of the football players or their family members and friends were involved in the shooting, he said.
“We are providing a safe haven for them, at least I thought we were,” Jackson said of his sports association, which offers football and cheer for young people ages 5 to 13.
A meeting is set for Monday night with the Montgomery County Police Department. Then on Tuesday, there will be a parents meeting at Neelsville Middle School at 6 p.m.
“This is the first time this has ever happened,” he said. Describing both football players and their siblings, he said, “Some of them are afraid. A lot of them are afraid.” Many “ran for their lives.”
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