Matt Ramian, is the coach of a youth baseball team in Lowell, Ind., who witnessed a brutal attack in the bleachers. A 14-year-old spectator was violently attacked by a man with a knife in the middle of the game.
“I’m on third base. I looked and out of the corner of my eye, I see this dude just come out from behind my dugout, and all he did was just jump on this girl, and then he started to push her down under the bleachers, and then he pulls out at least a 16 to 20-inch knife,” said Ramian, “[he] just started swinging it and got her a few times.”
According to reports by Fox News, the victim has been released from the hospital and is doing well. After the stabbing, a group of spectators pursued the attacker away from the ballpark. He was later apprehended by police and identified as Dimas Gabriel Yanez.
According to WishTV, Yanes told police in a statement that, “what he did was not intentional and that someone was following him and told him to do it.”
In a time when fans, coaches and officials are all wary of aggressive outbursts and violence related to the on-field action, the attack surprisingly appears to be unrelated to the game itself. It raises important safety questions that no one ever wants to think about for youth sports like how did this man enter the grounds? Should there be security at these small-town sporting events? And how can coaches and officials be equipped to handle these situations?
A 2022 webinar by Safe Sport Zone, discussed the importance of simple emergency action plans for these scenarios. Jay Hammes, the president of Safe Sport Zone teaches a practice called “active supervision,” and he says it is up to everyone working in the stadium to supervise the crowd, facility and stands. He called out the entrance gate as the highest priority of enforcement.
"Prevent, prevent, prevent is the name of the game today," said Hammes. "But you can't provide 100% safety. If somebody really wants to do something, they're going to do it."
Hammes's words now ring true for families in Lowell, Ind., as they reckon with the safety of their youth sports facilities. Coach Ramian said, “the baseball community in Lowell are going to be holding a fundraiser to help pay for medical bills and potential therapy for the teenager.”
