A Texas athlete was injured by a stray bullet on Sunday while in the middle of a college baseball game, possibly ending his career.
Matthew Delaney, a freshman baseball player for Texas A&M Texarkana, was struck by the errant round, leaving him partially paralyzed, according to Fox 4.
Delaney was playing in a game at George Dobson Field at Spring Lake Park on April 30 at 5:30 p.m. when the incident took place, according to a social media post from the Texarkana police.
The investigation has determined that the round that struck Delaney was fired in an adjoining neighborhood where a shootout occurred, leading people to report shots fired to the police.
“As it progressed, we’ve come to learn that the two people who were shooting at each other had already fled the scene,” Shaun Vaughn, Texarkana Police spokesperson, said via Fox 4. “There were three people there that at the house that were arrested. Various charges ranging from tampering with evidence to felony in possession of a firearm as well as possession of marijuana.”
Delaney’s mother, Amy, and her husband were in Dallas when they heard the news.
“His friend turned around, and that’s when he realized Matthew had been hit,” Amy Delaney, mother of Matthew, said to Fox 4. “I was in complete shock. And just started immediately, and we jumped in the car and started driving to Texarkana.”
“By the time I got there, they had actually gotten him stabilized and in ICU, which is where he still is right now,” said Amy via Fox 4. “He does have paralysis from his waist down on his left side. But this morning, he actually had some feeling from the knee down.”
“The bullet did go in his chest and hit two of his vertebrae in his back and fractured those and hit the spine wall. The fragment is still in his back. Right now, they’re not worried about that. They need to get healed first,” she added.
The baseball game happened in Texarkana and was supposed to be a celebration for Senior Night. At the time, players and coaches dove toward the ground as the sound of the bullet hitting a metal barrier echoed throughout the field.
Texarkana police said four people have been arrested in connection with the shooting. Police are still searching for a fifth suspect, Kamauri Butler, 17.
If you have any information on the whereabouts of Butler, please call the Texarkana police at 903-798-3876 or Texarkana Area Crime Stoppers at 903-793-STOP.
