A shooting that wounded two women in the fourth inning during Friday night’s Chicago White Sox-Oakland Athletics game most likely involved a gun that went off inside Guaranteed Rate Field, Chicago’s interim police superintendent said Monday.
Officials have said little about where the bullets came from, or if someone brought a gun into the stadium. But Chicago's Interim Police Supt. Fred Waller said during a brief media availability Monday that investigators have nearly "dispelled" the possibility that the shots came from outside the ballpark.
“We’re dispelling a lot of things,” Waller said. “(A shot) coming from outside is something we’ve almost completely dispelled. We’re still looking at every avenue. It’s still under investigation. Something from inside, it could’ve happened that way. We’re looking at every avenue, exploring every lead and everything that we can get.”
During the media availability, Mayor Brandon Johnson stressed the incident was still under investigation, adding that "there wasn't clear indication of where the shot actually came from."
Four days later, more questions than answers remain.
According to NBC 5 Investigates, CPD has declined to release the initial police report, a document that is typically public information. And, while the post-game concert featuring Vanilla Ice was canceled due to "technical difficulties," the game carried on as scheduled.
Waller said the police department initially requested that the game be halted after the shooting was discovered.
Local
Johnson said he was made aware of the shooting shortly after it occurred Friday, but he declined to say whether he was part of the decision to allow the game to continue or whether in hindsight that was the right choice.
“Obviously, this is an ongoing investigation and the Chicago Police Department has done a remarkable job of gathering all the evidence and as more information becomes available, that information will be reported,” Johnson said.
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Police said it was largely "because initially, no one knew that anyone was shot."
"We didn't have an indication. No one flared up. No flare from a weapon. None of that. So we didn't know she was shot until the paramedics gave us the information that she was shot," Waller said Monday.
"We had reports of people being shot at, at Sox Park, but that wasn't confirmed. So, we allowed the game to continue not to create a panic," he added.
MORE: Surveillance video shows moment of White Sox shooting, people waving for help
The White Sox said CPD has "complete authority" to determine "if anything id deemed to put public safety at risk."
"Upon receiving notification of this incident, CPD responded immediately and deployed additional resources while coordinating with White Sox security to maintain the safety of those who were in attendance or working at the game," police said in a statement.
Police and city have declined to release the initial police report or answer further questions on the incident that left two people hurt, saying it remains under investigation.
What witnesses reported
“People were going in and out of the section like nothing happened," said Jennifer Yolich, who was a few rows away from the incident. She told NBC 5 reporter Courtney Sisk her friend found a bullet in her sweatshirt.
“It was stuck in the back of her hoodie, like how does that happen? It just flew," she said.
For Yolich, the strangest part was the lack of awareness to the incident.
“If someone got shot, I mean you should probably evacuate right? Nothing was done," Yolich said. "The fans didn’t know what happened, the staff didn’t know what happened, I’m sure the players didn’t know what happened. It kind of puts everyone at risk.”
In an interview with NBC 5 Investigates, Dr. Jeanne Farnan, who was sitting in the center field bleachers, said she treated a woman with an obvious wound to her leg. A few seats below that, she found another victim with a graze wound to her stomach.
“I asked her where she was hurt, and she lifted her shirt up and she had what looked to be a cigar burn on her abdomen .. someone had put a towel on it and I walked her back over to where the first woman was," Farnan said.
Farnan also told NBC 5 Investigates that someone showed her a bullet, which she handed over to White Sox security.
