Shooting in San Marcos disrupts youth baseball game, bullet lands on field
SAN MARCOS (KUSI) – A terrifying scene Monday in San Marcos, as gunshots were heard during a youth baseball game at Mission Sports Park.
A video obtained by KUSI captured the scene, as the first and second grade players sprinted off the field amid the sound of gunshots from somewhere nearby. Witnesses say a bullet ricocheted off the infield between first and second base. In the video, you can see something hit the infield dirt.
San Diego County Sheriff’s say witnesses who called 911 heard between 7 and 9 gunshots, but they were not exactly sure where they were being shot from.
There was close to 200 people at Mission Sports Park at the time of the shooting, but no injuries were reported.
San Diego County Sheriff’s do not have a suspect and no arrests have been made.
Dan Max, from San Marcos Youth Baseball, sent the following email to parents Monday night:
Hello, I am resending the below message as I am seeing it missed a portion of our families.
Hello SMYB Families,
I wanted to make you aware of an incident that occurred this evening at Mission Sports Park. At 7:46 PM, 3-5 gunshots were heard, and a bullet bounced on Field 5 between 1st and 2nd base during a game, landing in the dugout. Based on the path, the shot came from the south side of the park near Field 7. I am so grateful to say that no one was physically harmed in this incident. The amazing youth umpires, coaches, and families on site reacted quickly, and got everyone to a safe location. The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department has launched an investigation utilizing the K-9 unit and a helicopter to search for any evidence. The Executive Board has decided to cancel all SMYB activities for tomorrow. This will provide everyone, including the Sheriff’s Department and the city, time to determine the best safety precautions we can provide for the remainder of the season. We are looking to resume on Wednesday with precautions in place. I fully support and respect any decision that you make for the safety of you and your family. Our goal is for all our SMYB families to feel safe and supported. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me.
-Dan Max
Tuesday morning, at least one elementary school in the area reached out to parents offering counseling to help students involved.
KUSI News has reached out to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department for comment.
KUSI will continue to update this story as more information is gathered.
The Superintendent of the San Marcos Unified School District sent the following letter to parents after the incident”
Dear San Marcos Unified families,
As many of you already know, last night at the Mission Sports Park near Palomar College, there were multiple shots fired while there were little league players, coaches, and families on the field and at the park. We are extremely grateful that there were no injuries and everyone got to a safe location.
While this is not an SMUSD facility or SMUSD-related sports program, we do know that many of our students, families, and staff were present during this incident or may know someone who was there last night. In response, today we have our counseling teams available at all school sites for students and staff who may need support.
We are also aware that our law enforcement partners are currently investigating this incident, and I will be meeting with the City of San Marcos today to further discuss community safety. I also want to share some resources for talking to children about violence for both families and educators, available here.
It is extremely unfortunate that we hear about incidents of violence far too often, and with incidents like these, our minds naturally turn to the safety and security in our day to day environments. As I shared with you earlier this year, at SMUSD we take the safety of our students, families and staff seriously, and our SMUSD Safety Team has been hard at work to implement additional safety strategies this year. There will be an email coming to you later this month that provides an overview of the work this team has done and work they plan to continue implementing.
Thank you so much for your support of our SMUSD school community.
Sincerely,
Dr. Andy Johnsen
Superintendent
