A game between the Washington Nationals and the San Diego Padres ended abruptly Saturday night after three people were injured in a shooting outside Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.
Players and fans scrambled to exit the stadium after hearing multiple loud bangs during the bottom of the 6th inning.
Ashan Benedict, executive assistant chief of police for DC's Metropolitan Police Department, said that ultimately there was no threat to people inside the stadium.
"I just want to assure the public that at no time during this incident were individuals inside the stadium attending the game in any kind of danger. This was not an active shooter incident and it's not being investigated as such. Everything took place outside the stadium," he said.
According to Benedict two vehicles were involved in a shootout on a street outside the stadium.
The Nationals had fans shelter in place inside the stadium. A message on the scoreboard shortly after the shooting instructed fans to remain inside the baseball park, but it was later updated to say it was safe for fans to leave the stadium.
"We held shelter in place for approximately 10 to 15 minutes. At that time we said fans were allowed, not that they had to, but they were allowed to exit through Center Field Gates and Right Field Gates on the other side of the stadium, because MPD had let me know that it was safe enough that they could go outside, out of the gate that way," Scott Fear, vice president of safety and security for the Nationals, told CNN.
The remainder of the game was suspended until Sunday afternoon. Game 3 of the Nationals-Padres series, which was scheduled for Sunday afternoon, was played after the conclusion of the suspended game.
