Hampton, Va. – Shots rang out near a children’s football practice on a field at Andrews School in Hampton on Wednesday night.
No one was hurt but parents have questions for the team and for police.
This is the same area where there have been recent instances of violence, most recently on Saturday when a man was shot and killed on nearby Milford Avenue.
Two young children were shot on Childs Avenue in early July.
Police say those are just two of several shootings in the area, causing them to step up patrols in the city.
Juli Harper’s 11-year-old son Tyler was one of the Hampton Hawkeyes practicing Wednesday evening on the baseball field at Andrews School.
“They heard a bunch of gunshots. It was just one, and then it was like pow, pow, pow, pow,” Juli says, “So when I got to the practice 15 to 20 minutes later, they were still practicing and acted like nothing had happened.”
The president of the Hawkeyes, Keith Boyers, said after the shots were heard, they asked all the kids to get off of the baseball field and move to a nearby gazebo.
They did not go back to the field until after police got there, but Juli says that is not enough.
“It should have been discontinued right then and there, although police had secured the area, you just never know someone could have come back,” Juli says, “My child is the most important thing. I could care less about football. I enjoy that he plays and he enjoys it, but his safety is the most important thing to me.
Juli says she will continue to let her son play football but will be at every practice from now on.
