Texas college baseball player struck by stray bullet during game
By Jennifer Henderson and Zoe Sottile, CNN
An 18-year-old Texas college baseball player was seriously injured after being struck by a stray bullet during a game on Saturday, according to police.
Matthew Delaney, a student athlete at Texas A&M University-Texarkana, was standing in the bullpen area when he was hit, police said. He was hospitalized after the incident and is currently in stable condition.
The university was facing off against the University of Houston-Victoria at George Dobson Field at Spring Lake Park in Texarkana, according to social media posts from the school and the Texarkana Police Department.
The bullet was believed to have been fired during an altercation in a neighborhood just west of the park, police said.
DeLaney was taken to the hospital for surgery, according to police. He is currently in the ICU and in stable condition at Christus St. Michael Hospital in Texarkana, the university’s communication manager, John Bunch, told CNN Monday.
“We think it’s important to note that he has a number of serious injuries, as would be expected with this type of trauma,” Bunch said. “He has made slight improvements daily but still has significant injuries and complications to overcome.”
Texarkana police issued felony warrants for two suspects believed to be involved in the incident.
A deadly conduct warrant was issued for 20-year-old Demarco Banks, who turned himself in overnight and was booked into Bi-State Jail, police said on Facebook. An aggravated assault warrant was issued for a 17-year-old who has not yet been located.
Banks went before a magistrate judge and his bond was set at $100,000, according to Bowie County Sheriff’s Office and the Bowie County Jail Records search. CNN was not able to determine if Banks has an attorney at this time.
The incident began as “a disturbance” between Banks and the 17-year-old that led them to shoot at each other, and one of the “errant rounds travelled about 400 yards and struck the innocent victim at the ball field,” according to the police department’s Facebook post. Both suspects fled before officers arrived, but three others at the scene were arrested for drug charges, according to the post.
The baseball game was declared a “no contest,” according to a social media post from TAMUT Athletics.
Texarkana is located around 180 miles from Dallas, on the state’s border with Arkansas.
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