Police said several people were injured in a mass shooting early Saturday morning near England’s World Cup base in Kansas City, Missouri.
At least nine adults were taken to nearby hospitals after police responded to reports of shots fired around 4 a.m. The shooting occurred on Saturday on Troost Avenue, less than four miles from England’s base camp in Soup Soccer Village.
All of the injured were taken to nearby hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries and are expected to survive, Kansas City (State of Missouri) Police Department Capt. Jack Bechina said in a statement.
England players and staff were not on site during the incident, as they are currently training in Florida.
Bechina said there are no suspects in custody at this time, but the Kansas City (State of Missouri) Police Department is investigating the shooting.
Police responded to calls of shots fired near 79th and Troost Avenue and found a large crowd scattering. Three women, who sustained bullet injuries, were then shifted to nearby hospitals. Later, law enforcement received calls reporting that six more people had been injured. He was also taken to nearby hospitals by private vehicles, where he succumbed to his injuries.
It is unclear at this time what led to the shooting.
Kate Fowler, who lives near the scene of the shooting, told the Kansas City Star that she and her husband woke up to a bullet hole in the front window of their house. He later learnt that, apart from the Saturday morning shooting, there had been a shooting between 10 pm and 11 pm on Friday night.
Fowler told the newspaper that it’s not uncommon to hear gunshots in the neighbourhood at least once a week.
“It’s just an unfortunate situation with some of the businesses here,” Fowler said. Kansas City Star.
Another shooting in Kansas City (State of Missouri) Saturday evening happened just miles away on Troost Avenue. As a result of this shooting, two people died. According to KMBC News 9.
Although the England team is based in Kansas City, the team was in Florida at the time of the shooting, preparing for a pre-World Cup friendly against New Zealand.
England beat New Zealand 1-0 in Tampa on Saturday afternoon. They will face Costa Rica in Orlando this weekend before returning to Kansas City (State of Missouri) for the remainder of the tournament.
England is among a number of teams that have chosen Kansas City (State of Missouri) as their base camp due to its central location in the middle of America and the quality of its training facilities. Algeria, Argentina and Holland are also based in Kansas City (State of Missouri).
Athletic, he was the first to report firing near England’s base camp.
