The coach of a youth football team was shot numerous times, apparently by a father who was angry that his kid was not a starting player, according to court documents. As a result, the team’s season was called off.
According to NBC station KSDK of St. Louis, the incident took place on October 10 at Sherman Park in north St. Louis, where Shaquille Latimore was leading a practice for the Bad Boyz Team. Latimore was located by the football field with several gunshot wounds, according to the police, and was rushed right away to the hospital for surgery.
According to court documents, he was wounded four times and is now healing.
According to court filings, the father of one of Latimore’s players, Daryl Brian Clemmons, was detained in connection with the shooting & charged with assault in the first degree and armed criminal action. When contacted for comment on Friday, his lawyer did not react right away.
However, Clemmons’ brother refuted Latimore’s assertion that the fight about Clemmons’ kid not being a starter was the cause of the shooting. Daryl Clemmons was defending himself, according to Jason Clemmons, who said that his brother and the instructor had gotten into an argument days earlier. KSDK was informed by witnesses that the coach was the aggressor.
According to Jason Clemmons, “It wasn’t about my nephew.”
On Friday, no one could quickly get in touch with Jason Clemmons. Latimore opted not to respond.
According to police reports and court records, the two men had a verbal dispute the day before the shooting. According to a probable cause statement, Latimore “pulled his gun away and gave it to someone to hold before shots rang out and that the defendant thereafter shot him multiple times while he was unarmed.”
Jason Clemmons claimed that Latimore gave his friend his rifle so that he could attack Daryl Clemmons with his fists. Latimore allegedly fell during the altercation and asked his companion to hand over the gun, according to Jason Clemmons.
Jason Clemmons informed the channel that his brother fired in self-defense as the man was putting the gun in his hand.
One team member’s dad claimed the coach started the altercation by confronting Daryl Clemmons while walking off the field during practice.
The dad, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of punishment, told KSDK that his child “should have stayed on the field.”
Additionally, he claimed that before things got out of hand, Daryl Clemmons repeatedly asked Latimore to leave him alone.
The dad said, “They are locking up an innocent person.” “The coach started this.”
According to a statement given to KSDK by the City of St. Louis Recreation Division, the football team was suspended as a result of “a series of incidents committed by adults that culminated in Tuesday’s shooting.”
“League rules are in place to guarantee the protection of our youth those who participated, ages 5 to 13, and we will keep following the rules to guarantee this football season is secure and successful,” said the division.