WASHINGTON, D.C. — Some fans at the game between the San Diego Padres and the Washington Nationals Saturday night were helped into the dugout by Padres players after a shooting outside the Washington, D.C. stadium.
Alaina Rodriguez and Zerik Hann traveled from Pennsylvania to Nationals Park to see Fernando Tatis Jr. play, hoping to see the Padres win and maybe even some fireworks. But they ended up getting a lot more.
The two were sitting in section 114 when they heard what they say were four loud bangs. They ducked for cover, unaware of what was going on. They say police locked the gates, which were then were unlocked by the players. That’s when players like Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Wil Myers took Rodriguez and others to the dugout.
“Tatis opens the gate and all of a sudden he’s like, ‘come on, let’s go, let’s go, lets go,’ and everybody runs on the field,” Rodriguez said. “Everybody’s just running now towards the dugout and whoever could fit in is now in the dugout. We ended up in the dugout. And fans were just in there. We’re just huddled together.”
“I don’t know how to thank the Padres in any way,” Rodriguez continued. “Tatis, Manny and Myers — I don’t know how to thank them. They opened the gates and let us on the field to make sure that fans were safe. I don’t know anybody that would ever do that.”
A Nationals fan was also sitting near the Padres dugout when gunshots rang out.
“Kind of lost track of time,” John Mayer told FOX 5. “Next thing I noticed is some of the Padres come out of the dugout just near where I was sitting. I do remember Tatis Jr. for sure. They ran out with some urgency, grabbed a few people from the seats and brought them into the dugout.”
Three people were injured in the shooting, said Ashan Benedict, Metropolitan Police Department’s executive assistant police chief.
The game will be resumed Sunday afternoon, and the regularly scheduled game will follow.
Tatis Jr. tweeted after the game:
“Hope everyone is safe! Just keep the prayers up — thank you everyone that helped in the front line! God Bless.”