Oklahoma basketball team runs out of tournament during shooting scare
Police said no shots were actually fired during the tournament, but parents said that didn't make the situation any less scary.
Police said no shots were actually fired during the tournament, but parents said that didn't make the situation any less scary.
Police said no shots were actually fired during the tournament, but parents said that didn't make the situation any less scary.
An Oklahoma travel basketball team was rattled when parents and players believed someone opened fire in the Texas gym they were playing in Sunday.
The Mansfield Police Department said officers were dispatched to the Fieldhouse, where basketball games were taking place, in reference to a fight in progress and possible shots fired. Police confirmed no shots were actually fired and no one was injured.
However, that didn't stop chaos from ensuing. A girls' travel team that is part of the Oklahoma Swarm out of Edmond was there when people began running out of the building as people yelled "shooter."
The police department said in a Facebook statement that a parent and coach from different teams were asked to leave the Fieldhouse due to an altercation. The two parties then went into the parking lot, where one person went to his car and retrieved a gun.
Someone in the parking lot then saw the man with a gun and yelled "shots fired," according to police.
Parents of the Oklahoma players said they heard people yelling this as the crowd began to run outside. A video posted by Sandlin Game Streaming shows the moments this happened.
"There is a video posted by a citizen that sounds like a gunshot. If you look on the left side of the video, you will observe a male tripping over a table which caused a loud sound and then someone started to yell. We were also able to view the interior video surveillance that is consistent with the other video," said Mansfield police.
Noble Sandlin, the father of a ninth-grade girl and a seventh-grade girl from Tuttle, and Dustin Hill, the dad of a 15-year-old girl, said they helped get teams and spectators out of the building and then back in during the situation.
While no one was injured in the incident and police confirmed the person who retrieved the gun didn't fire any shots, the two fathers said it didn't make the situation any less scary. However, it allowed them to have important conversations with their families.
"Make sure you’re ready," said Sandlin. "Speak with your family and appreciate what you have around you and have a plan."
Hill also applauded the Mansfield police for their quick response to the situation.
"We pulled over on the side of the road on our way back to Oklahoma to talk about the situation that occurred and just kind of go through some lessons learned with the kid," said Hill. "What we did good, what we did wrong, what we could have done better, and just try to learn from the situation just in case this was to ever happen again."
All tournaments were canceled for the rest of the day. Officers said they identified both parties involved, but the situation is still under investigation.
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