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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

You people are absolutely ridiculous.  Point being, why didn't they tell people there what was happening? COMMUNICATION.   Silly me, when you hear gun shots, and you don't know if they are in or out of the stadium, you'd like to know!

"Drive by involving two cars outside the park. Remain calm, remain in place, and we will keep you informed." Easy.  But no, they had to freak everyone out by corralling the players and ignoring the fans - half of whom were leaving DURING the shooting (Nats were down by 3 at the top of the 6th) - the other half were either screaming or hiding under their seats.

If that is entertaining to you, I wish this situation on you and your family, see how you like it.

If we have to be subjected to this crap, regardless of politics (take it to the politics board) - then at least know how to handle a crises involving tens of thousands of people in your ball park.

I will be seeing baseball in other cities from now on. If nothing else, your PR team and damage control sucks. [/quote]

It took a few minutes to find out what was going on. It wasn’t a scheduled shooting. How are they supposed to know what to tell you faster than you panic? Duck & cover & wait for instructions like every school kid in America has been trained to do. As soon as they knew, they told people that the incident was outside so stay inside the stadium. Then when they knew there was no threat, they sent people home through exits that did not interfere with the police investigation. [/quote]

No one knew what was going on, until a fan was shot.  Many left after the 6th inning, because the Nats were losing by three points. In the interim, there was a drive by. Nice.

Workers at the gate were not equipped to handle the situation, nor was any one there.  If you watched the news coverage, it was NOT 5-10 minutes, but much more.

Why are you defending this crap?

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The whole incident was 15 minutes from shots fired to them telling us we could calmly leave the stadium. About halfway through that they did make announcements that it was outside and to stay in. [/quote]

Disagree.  I spoke with other people there and the whole thing was about a half hour, whether you like it or not.  Maybe you go through this all the time, maybe it is nothing to you, but people have a reasonable expectation that when a city builds a professional baseball park, even if it is in a bad area, that the fans will be kept safe.

Also, like it or not, there were all types of families t the ball park, maybe even some who (gasp!) look like you.  Get over it. I hope that fan sues the city for a ton of money, and I hope it comes out of your tax money.

And yes, children should be safe, too, that goes without saying.

Boy, you people just want to fight each other. No wonder nothing has been done to fix this city.  You can't get out of your own way. [/quote]

I have the facts & sorry you don’t. My receipt for a pretzel was 9:24. It happened a few mins after that. At 9:31 my friend’s husband called her pretty immediately and said what happened - why did they cut the game. At 9:44 I texted my husband and my mom saying they say we can calmly evacuate. [/quote]

DP.  I was there as well, and my gripe is with the delay in telling people to stay put. On top of which, the ushers and gate attendants in my area *told* us to leave. That was after we waited several minutes after the players left before we even started up to the concourse.  If they knew enough to evacuate the players, they could have also made an announcement in the stadium and/or communicated the plan via radio to the people working the gates. They should have a plan to immediately lock down the stadium for situations like this. I was already out of the stadium when the announcement to stay put went out. Not to mention the fact that, with all the gates open, if someone had been trying to shoot their way in, it would have been quite easy. The security prep here was non-existent, and it’s not like a shooting at a ballpark is a “black swan” event. [/quote]

Back to add that the club level seats behind home plate were emptied out immediately & this is quite apparent from the video of last night. In fact, we were sitting nearby, and seeing that section empty was a factor in our decision to leave. [b]So, *some* of the ushers were told what to do[/b]. Also, the video of the “stay in the stadium” announcement also clearly shows a virtually empty stadium. [/quote]

I was sitting in those seats behind home plate, in section 124 (hey, I was invited to a company's recruiting event and wasn't about to turn down a chance to check out the Diamond Club). I was up and out of my seat within 10 seconds of hearing the gunshots (no way they could be mistaken for fireworks, IMO) and it sounded like it was coming from inside the stadium, somewhere in the 3rd base side. No one was directing anyone in the section, and I only moved after considering my options, the calculus being it's better to be inside than out in the open. By then, there was already a crowd of people leaving the stands through the Diamond Club doors, then through the exit right outside. I hesitated at the exit, thinking it might be safer inside the concourse, but the second set of gunshots rang out and the gate attendant told us to run. If there was some "ushers [that] were told what to do" in that section, they certainly didn't come around to tell me. My theory why that section might have emptied out so quickly is because a) the Diamond Club can fit a lot of people who also didn't feel like being sitting ducks, and b) the home plate exit is right outside the entrance to the Diamond Club. To suggest that some people got preferential treatment during an active shooter situation is a little messed up.

Also, second the 15 minute timeline, based on text messages between me and my wife at home refreshing Twitter for any info:
9:31 - I text her "I'm ok" from outside the stadium
9:42 - she sent me a picture of the "...incident is outside...remain inside..." up on the board inside the stadium
9:47 - @Nationals posts to exit via CF and RF gates[/quote]

Thanks for also confirming there was a second set of gunshots! I was with 3 friends - and two of us heard the second set and the third didnt. And yesterday I said to them - “I haven’t seen any press on the second set of gunshots. Did it really happen or did we hallucinate it?

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