PACE, Florida – The Sheriff’s Bureau of the County of Santa Rosa Investigation of A heated exchange in a rhythm sports complex It caused a frightening Thursday evening.
The authorities say that an altercation between a referee and a baseball coach in a youth match had many people fearing that an armed man opened fire in the park.
This occurred at the Pace Athletic Recreation Association (Para) on Chumuckla Highway.
The sheriff’s office tells Wear News that they always collect evidence. No charge has been deposited.
So what led to the incident?
At the bottom of the first round of a youth league match in Pace, a Baserunner collided with the marble receiver. This led to an argument between the coaches and a referee, which led to the ejection of a coach of the game and the complex.
“It started with a bunch of agitation, coaches shouting on a referee,” said a woman who looked at her child to play on nearby land. “So the next thing, I turn around, I see the coach leave, he still screams. Then we return, the next thing I know that the terrain has been eliminated.”
“Everyone runs,” she added. “We hear people say that there is an active shooter.”
The chief deputy for the county of Santa Rosa, Randy Tifft, was at the stadium. He says that once the agitation started, he went there.
“I went to this area where the field was,” said Tifft. “When I arrived, the subject that threatened the referees had already left the field, he’s already gone.”
Tifft says the referees told him that the coach was disorderly and was ejected.
The video shows the moments when the coach was thrown. Under the League policy, the referees had to escort the coach to the parking lot.
Here is where Tifft says that a crime could have happened.
“They informed me that they arrived at the edge of the ball fields by the parking lot, and he said:” If you follow me to my vehicle, I have a pistol “,” said Tifft. “And he got into his car and left.”
“We had a massive panic. And understandable,” he added. “People were worried about their own children and their own security and we take this very seriously.”
TIFFT says that the Sheriff’s Office Disapped received calls for shots. He confirms that there is no evidence that a pistol will never be in the park.
Despite this, the parents say that their children do not feel safe in return at the complex at the moment. They question the response of the Pace Athletic & Recreation Association, saying that it is due to the security of the property.
“I really think that the president and the members of the board of directors must meet and certain positive changes to ensure that security in the community must occur as soon as possible,” said a parent. “I don’t think about this moment that our children feel safe.”
Wearing news made attempts on Friday to contact the League and awaits an answer.
Tifft says that the investigation is underway while they continue to bring together new videos and evidence. We say news that there is a good chance that the man, that the sheriff’s office does not identify, could face accusations.
“We are going to build the case and we will sit with the office of the State Prosecutor and determine the appropriate accusations,” said Tifft. “I have the impression that there are appropriate charges. But we must have the evidence.”
Parents are also concern about checks of history carried out on coaches. Many parents allege that several coaches have violent judicial lockers and should not be with children. Wear News works to check these claims.