2 People Shot After Argument During Youth Flag Football Game in Virginia

AP Photo/Tyler Kaufman

An argument at a flag football event in Manassas, Virginia, on Sunday morning led to a shooting that injured two men, per Lindsay Watts of Fox 5 DC.

Dean Ladson, a parent of an 11-year-old player and an organizer of 703 United Youth Football, said there were a few hundred children and spectators at the Benton Middle School fields at the time of the shooting. Multiple flag football games were scheduled at the time.

Ladson said that he saw an argument take place on the sideline during the game and that he tried to de-escalate the situation. He then said he was right next to the shooter when he pulled out a gun and shot two men before running away from the scene.

He also spoke with Megan Rivas of WUSA9 about the incident:

Per Watts, Prince William County Deputy Police Chief Jarad Phelps said that investigators are attempting to identify the shooter at this time. The department also reported that the two men who were shot were transported to local hospitals to receive treatment and that the scene was secure and stable.

Per Justin Jouvenal of the Washington Post, the ages and conditions of the victims were not immediately available.

As Bill Hutchinson of ABC News wrote, this incident marks the third reported time in seven days that a shooting has taken place at or near a youth sporting event in the United States.

On April 25, gunshots rang out at a parking lot near youth baseball fields in North Charleston, South Carolina, while games were going on. Last Friday, nearly two dozen gunshots rang out near a freshman high school baseball game in Chicago.