The Washington Nationals were set to take on the San Diego Padres in what was supposed to be a normal regulation game on July 17, 2021. This seemed to be the case until the bottom of the sixth inning when fans reportedly heard gunshots coming from an unknown location outside the field. The game was initially stopped as some people from the crowd sought cover and went into the dugout on the third baseline, while others either left the field or remained in their seats thinking that the game would start up again.
The unfortunate series of events that transpired outside the walls of the field resulted in at least four people sustaining serious injuries. Some fans who were enjoying the game from the inside said the noises “sounded like fireworks” before the Washington D.C. police department made it known that it was indeed gunshots; two people were later found with related wounds. Shortly after releasing that statement to the department’s Twitter feed they soon came out with another announcement exclaiming that “two additional victims associated with this incident walked into local hospitals for treatment of gunshot wounds.” So far the four ‘victims’ of the incident are the only ones who have either come forward or were found in relation to the situation.
Luckily for both teams and the fans that attended the game, the shooting that took place outside of the ballpark had no relation to the game being played and was said to be just an unfortunate place for the attack to happen. However, due to safety precautions to ensure that no one who was not initially involved with the shooting would later be a part of it, officials suspended the game as it was; leaving it in the bottom of the sixth inning with a total score of 8-4 in favor of San Diego. The game was postponed and set to take place the very next day, July 18 at 1:05 p.m., in which both teams will pick up from exactly where they left off.