Chicago’s interim top cop is taking the blame for a game between the White Sox and Athletics continuing on even after two women were wounded by gunfire near Section 161 during an August night game at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Interim police superintendent Fred Waller told the Chicago Sun-Times on Thursday that the game had continued because of a “miscommunication” on the protocol of notifying the MLB, but added it had been addressed.
On Aug. 25, two women, a 42-year-old and a 26-year-old, were both struck by bullets inside the ballpark, but play never stopped despite what could have been a potentially devastating incident.
“We did not know exactly what we had on our hands. We didn’t think it was an active shooter. But we didn’t know,” Waller told the outlet.
Waller, whose tenure as interim police superintendent is nearing its conclusion, explained that the confusion came due to the back-and-forth over the situation.
Waller was overseeing the Chicago PD’s street operations citywide when news of the shooting reached him.
Waller said that he had been told that Chief of Patrol Brian McDermott had called for the game to be stopped and that police, team officials and stadium security had started to look at the video of the alleged incident.
“In the communication of phone calls back and forth, the game is continuing on. … A mistake was made because the games was not stopped. … In communication of, ‘Stop the game,’ the White Sox went into a mode of, ‘Now, we have to contact Major League Baseball’ and things like that, and that should not have happened,” Waller said.
“We’ve taken some steps to make sure that … we have the right people in place to delay or stop completely a game like that, so it won’t happen again.”
The interim superintendent ultimately said if people wanted to place blame for how things were handled, he was the one who should have to shoulder responsibility.
Nearly a month since the incident at the game, police have not made any arrests or identified any suspects.
Chicago PD still hasn’t determined whether the shots came from inside or outside the stadium, with Waller admitting that they may never be 100 percent sure.
Waller did say that police have continued to examine footage from inside and outside Guaranteed Rate Field to “make sure that we’re not missing something.”
White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf said at the end of August that he did not believe the shooting took place inside the stadium.
“I don’t see any way in the world that the shots could have come from inside the ballpark,” he said.
Nevertheless, Waller couldn’t definitively say where the shooting took place.
“I won’t say inside or outside until the investigation is complete. I spoke to Mr. Reinsdorf, and I know that he feels very strongly because he has to protect his brand,” Waller said.