Deadly shooting at youth football game in Wilmington, Delaware, under investigation
Nearly 24 hours after shots rang out at a youth football game at Eden Park in Wilmington, Delaware, police could be seen searching for evidence. Lamar Massas, 36, was killed in the gunfire.
The incident happened on Sunday at around 3:15 p.m. as the New Castle Jaguars were hosting the Upland Hurricanes. Upland President Fareed "Skip" Burton says his 10u team was meeting during halftime when the chaos erupted across the field.
"After the halftime speech, that's when I heard the shots ring out and we just dove on the ground," Burton said. "All the teams from their sideline started running toward us, jumping over fences, and that's when I was like, 'Oh, it's real,' it's not just shots in the air or fireworks."
The coach said several hundred people were present, including athletes and parents, when the shooting began. He said he immediately tried to move his players behind the bleachers for safety before searching for his own 9-year-old son.
"I was kind of struck trying to find him, trying to find him, so that was more devastating too," Burton said. "It was so much pandemonium."
Tehran Freeman, the 13u coach, said their teams will be meeting privately with the players to help them process what happened. Freeman and others are left with more questions than answers after the shooting.
"For us, weekends is family and football normally," Freeman said. "It's our safe haven. It's where you let your guard down. It's sad something like that could happen at a youth football game."
For now, police continue to search for the shooter along with a motive for why this all happened.
A high school junior varsity game scheduled for Monday night at Eden Park has been moved to Appoquinimink following the incident.