US rocked as three shot and fans flee amid terrifying gunfire during baseball game

America’s favourite pastime has been stopped mid-match amid terrifying scenes as three people were shot and fans ran for cover.

Chaos erupted during Saturday night’s baseball game at Nationals Park — with fans fleeing or taking cover under seats — after a shooting outside the Washington, DC, stadium.

Police said a shootout between people in two cars at around 9.30pm had left three injured, including a female bystander who was attending the game and was hit while standing outside the ballpark.

The other two victims were in one of the cars and later walked into a local hospital with gunshot wounds, cops said.

There was “no ongoing threat,” cops wrote in a tweet at around 10pm, adding that the game between the Washington Nationals and San Diego Padres was suspended.

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Fans fled and took cover under seats after several loud pops were heard from the far left field just as the San Diego Padres had taken to the field for the bottom of the sixth inning.

Fans could be seen taking cover under their seats as helicopters circled the ballpark, footage tweeted by WBRZ-TV reporter Dana DiPiazza showed.

Horrifying. “Glad” isn’t the right word for seeing the reports that the apparent gunshots were outside the stadium, but certainly relieved that it’s not an active shooter inside. https://t.co/44yd39WQM7

— Jesse Spector (@jessespector) July 18, 2021

“Everybody thought like a machine had gone busted or there were fireworks outside or something,” Nationals fan Stephen Lyons, 20, told The NY Post after the mayhem.

“Then there was kind of a collective panic from that area in particular right outside the gate. Everyone was like ‘oh this is something that was not fireworks,’” said the college student, who was sitting in section 111, near the third baseline.

Officials did not address the gunshots over the loudspeakers for at least five minutes, leading to “pandemonium,” fans said.

“I saw the staff there like deer in the headlights,” another attendee, Jaime Varela, 31, said.

“They didn’t know what was going on, they didn’t know what to tell us,” said Varela, adding that he saw people both ducking for cover and scrambling to the exits from his perch in the right field terrace.

“For a good five minutes nobody knew what was going on.”

Nationals radio broadcast picked up the sound of the gunfire really clearly. Just horrifying. pic.twitter.com/JSqu2P4tlv

— Jesse Spector (@jessespector) July 18, 2021

Police sirens blared as several in the crowd began to stream out of the ballpark.

One person shared footage of throngs of fans trying to exit the stadium — only to quickly reverse course to another exit as armed police stood guard.

“I was on 3rd base side in section 115 where is happened,” another person tweeted. “It was crazy everyone ducked and at least 2000-3000 people ran on the field into the dugouts down into the tunnels.”

Fans tried hiding under seats.

Other videos showed fans streaming onto the field or into the dugouts in fear and confusion.

Footage taken from a nearby rooftop showed a frantic mass evacuation of the stadium, which is in the city’s Capitol Riverfront neighbourhood.

Players could be seen running into the stands, including Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr., who grabbed family members and brought them into the clubhouse, in video posted by Kevin Acee, the Padres reporter for the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Fans got onto the field to flee the sound of gunshots.

Fans fled the stadium once police gave the all clear.

Nationals pitcher Patrick Corbin was one of several people who fled for the concourse. Others rushed into bathrooms or suites, according to an NBC Washington photojournalist.

The Nationals initially announced there had been an incident outside the stadium and posted a message on the scoreboard asking fans to remain inside.

About 10 minutes later, the home team tweeted that a shooting was reported outside the third base gate and that “fans are encouraged to exit the ballpark via the CF and RF gates at this time.”

The scene was mayhem. Picture: Getty Images

The game was halted in the sixth inning with San Diego leading the Nats 8-4. It will be resumed Sunday afternoon, followed by the regularly scheduled game.

This story first appeared in the New York Post and was republished with permission.