At least two people were injured in a chaotic scene involving gunshots Friday night at Noble Sports Park in Brooklyn Park, after a series of youth sporting events ended at dusk and hundreds of youths descended on the park when it got dark.
Brooklyn Park police were responding to a disturbance at the complex around 9:30 p.m. Friday when officers heard gunshots in a parking lot where as many as 300 had gathered. The gunfire caused the youths to flee, and one person was injured after falling and being trampled. Another was hit in the lower extremities by a bullet that may have ricocheted, said Sgt. Rielly Nordan. That person was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
Investigators from the Hennepin County Crime Lab collected at least 40 shell casings from the scene, Nordan said. The shooter may not have been targeting anyone, he added.
The park was a hub of activity earlier in the day, hosting a regional softball tournament, a state travel baseball tournament and several recreational soccer games involving grade school children that had ended in the hour before the shooting. Nordan said the shooting was unrelated to the sporting events, but the department increased police presence at the park Saturday while the tournaments continued.
