Texas A&M Texarkana baseball player shot during game

An 18-year-old Texas college baseball player was struck by a stray bullet while standing in the bullpen during a game Saturday, in what police have described as a case of “incredibly bad luck.”

The Texas A&M-Texarkana player, whose identity has not been released, was facing off against the University of Houston-Victoria when gunfire erupted around 5:30 p.m. at George Dobson Field at Spring Lake Park in Texarkana, Texas.

According to Texarkana Texas Police Department, “some type of altercation” took place in a nearby neighborhood west of the ballpark, resulting in shots being fired.

One of the bullets struck the unidentified TAMUT player in the chest. He was rushed to St. Michael Hospital, where he underwent surgery and was listed in stable condition as of Sunday.

“We initially received several calls of shots fired on Lynda Street, which is in a neighborhood just west of Spring Lake Park. Moments later, we received a 911 call that a baseball player at the park had collapsed and may have been shot,” the local police said.

“We were able to almost immediately determine that the two incidents were related, so as some officers were at the ball field rendering aid to the victim, other officers were on Lynda Street looking for any evidence or witnesses.”

The investigation has revealed that the incident on Lynda Street started as a “disturbance” that escalated to a gunfight between two men in the front yard of a home.

“One of those errant rounds traveled about 400 yards and struck the innocent victim at the ball field,” police said.

A police department spokesperson told the Texarkana Gazette that it was “incredibly bad luck, bad place,” for the baseball player.

Detectives have identified the suspected gunmen as 17-year-old Kamauri Butler, who is now wanted on a charge of aggravated assault, and 20-year-old Demarco Banks, who has a warrant out for his arrest for deadly conduct.

Both Butler and Banks had fled the scene by the time cops arrived, but officers arrested three other men who were there after detectives obtained a search warrant for the house and several vehicles.

Police booked Yankeengea Smith, 49, for unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon and two counts of possession of methamphetamine and Ecstasy pills; Nathan Moore, 19, for tampering with evidence and possession of marijuana, and Marcell Beaver, also 19, for possession of marijuana.

Police stressed that contrary to rumors, the suspects were not in the park or driving through the area at the time of the shooting.

“That’s simply not the case at all,” they stated. “The disturbance and shooting all happened on Lynda Street and had nothing to do with the park itself or any event going on there. Tragically, one of the shots that Butler and Banks fired at each other on Lynda Street travelled several hundred feet and struck the unsuspecting victim at the ballpark.”

Cops are appealing to the public for help with locating the two suspected shooters who remain at large.