CHICAGO — Nearly three days into its investigation of an incident that left two women injured by gunfire at Guaranteed Rate Field, the Chicago Police Department has largely concluded that the gunfire originated inside the ballpark. That’s according to CPD Interim Supt. Fred Waller, who spoke to the press after a police graduation ceremony on Monday.
“We’re dispelling a lot of things,” Waller said, adding that the possibility of a bullet “coming from outside is something we’ve almost completely dispelled.”
But he stopped short of saying a weapon was fired within Sox Park.
“We’re still looking at every avenue,” he continued. “It’s still under investigation. Something from inside—it could’ve happened that way.”
Two sources within the White Sox organization told CWBChicago that investigators used the ballpark’s surveillance system to track the injured women from their seats back to the security checkpoints. Both were allowed entry after screening.
From the get-go, CPD has said there was never an “active threat” within the ballpark during Friday night’s game. Video of the bleachers released by the White Sox on Saturday showed no altercation or commotion in the stands before the women realized they were shot.
No fans in the video reacted as one would expect upon hearing gunfire. Except for the injured women and a couple of people in their immediate proximity, the rest of the crowd appeared to go about their evening.
Over the weekend, a White Sox spokesperson said no one realized immediately that the woman’s injuries were caused by gunfire.
But a doctor on the scene moments after the shooting told WGN-TV that one of the women, 46, suffered “a very obvious gunshot wound to her thigh.” The other woman, 26, was not seriously injured. She declined medical attention.
Lacking any clear leads within the park, Chicago police turned their attention to a ShotSpotter gunfire alert that activated in the 300 block of East 42nd Place, about a mile south of the ballpark, around the time the women were injured. CPD officers combed the neighborhood on Saturday, looking for evidence that could be used in the stadium investigation as CBS2 cameras were recording.
A woman seated near the two victims wrote on Facebook that she was also “barely” grazed by a bullet.
She said she was with a group of teachers and was speaking with a co-worker when they heard a noise “like when you fill a water bottle with air and twist it and the cap comes off” followed by the ping of something hitting the metal bleacher.
“I felt a pinch in my back … sure enough I picked up a damn bullet,” said the post, which was accompanied by photos, including one of a largely undamaged bullet.
“I am AMAZED how the rest of the ballpark had [zero] idea of what happened. No one got evacuated, nobody knew NOTHING…NOTHING! Absurd. They quickly cleared my section … but never notified anyone of anything the game just went on.”
The woman has since removed her post from her public Facebook profile.