ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) - A 10-year-old boy was shot in the leg by a stray bullet Saturday while on the field at an eastern Pennsylvania baseball park, authorities said.
The boy was in right field shortly before the IronPigs evening game at Coca-Cola Park when he fell to the ground.
It wasn’t until the boy received an X-ray at a hospital that it was determined he had been shot, police said.
“The police officers we were speaking to last night felt pretty confident, with 99% certainty, that someone shot into the air and it was just the horrible misfortune that it landed where it did,” IronPigs General Manager Kurt Landes told the Morning Call.
No gunshots were heard in the area and there’s no indication that the shot came from within the park, police said.
The X-ray revealed that the boy had a bullet lodged in the back of the knee. He was taken to the trauma unit with an injury not considered life-threatening.
“His mother has been very gracious and appreciative of our contact, and I think she’s understandably frustrated with someone shooting a gun in the air,” Landes said.
The boy and other children were on the field for a promotional event for the IronPigs’ Harry Potter Night when he was struck.
Allentown police said they are still investigating where the bullet came from.
IronPigs co-owner Joe Finley, who was at Saturday’s game, told the newspaper that “the most important thing is the young boy is doing well.”
“It came at an 80-degree angle, came from high up in the air,” he said. “That’s why they say don’t fire guns into the air. Those bullets have to come down somewhere.”
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