Four people were shot Saturday outside a ballpark packed with thousands of spectators in the U.S. capital, causing play to stop abruptly and spectators to leave the venue.
Washington police said that four people were hit by the shots but that “there was no longer any threat”, without clarifying the condition of the victims.
AFP journalists who were at the game said that some spectators rushed towards the stadium exits after hearing the shots, while others remained in their seats at the initial insistence of the announcer.
In game videos uploaded to social media, several shots from automatic weapons could be clearly heard.
The lights of several police cars lit up the street and sirens sounded as crowds attending the Washington Nationals-San Diego Padres game were asked to leave the stadium.
Police said on Twitter that officers “responded to a shooting (…) in which two people were shot outside Nationals Park” in the Navy Yard neighborhood of southern Washington, DC.
“It is being investigated and there appears to be no threat in progress at this time,” police added.
Shortly after, in the same social network, he reported that “two additional victims associated with this incident entered hospitals in the area to receive treatment for gunshot wounds.”
The Washington Post said, citing police, that a man was shot in the leg and a woman in the back, and that their lives were not in danger.
The health status of the other two injured was not immediately known.
An intersection near the Third Base Gate where the shooting occurred was closed by police.
Minutes after the incident, the official Washington Nationals account tweeted that “a shooting was reported outside the Third Base Gate in Nationals Park” and encouraged fans to leave the stadium.
The players had run off the field when the detonations were heard and play was stopped in the sixth inning, with the Padres partially winning 8-4. The game is due to resume on Sunday.
More than 100 people have been killed in Washington this year, many of them by firearms.
Police on Saturday offered a $ 60,000 reward to identify the person who shot and killed a six-year-old girl while riding a scooter in southeastern Washington.
The United States has a painful history of gun violence perpetrated in schools, offices, or shopping malls. (AFP)