Angel Stadium shootout

It’s a story that has been drastically overshadowed today, but ESPN is reporting that an off-duty officer shot two individuals following the conclusion of a game between the Colorado Rockies and the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday night, June 24, at Angel Stadium in Anaheim.

Allegedly, the two men assaulted the off-duty officer, who had taken his wife and two young children to the game. According to the article, the two men did enough damage to wound the officer’s head before he pulled out his weapon and started shooting. He hit the first guy, 25-year-old Carlos Velasquez, a Camp Pendleton Marine, in the face. That dude is now in critical condition. He got the second guy, 22-year-old Jose Velasquez, in the arm. He’s listed in good condition.

So why did a Marine and his younger brother attack an off-duty cop? And why did the cop respond with his firearm? My first guess is alcohol. Young enlisted men are sort of notorious for their alcohol consumption. Let’s say it’s their calling-card, world wide. And they’ve been trained to be overly aggressive, which often sparks fights.

Maybe the cop was wearing a Rockies cap. Or maybe he had an attractive wife. Whatever it was that caught the Marine’s (negative) attention, he apparently chose to mess with the wrong guy. Boy, howdy.

Sadly, this episode merely underscores the violence that has taken place at SoCal’s pro ballparks this season:

1) On Opening Night, a man died of head injuries after falling down a flight of stairs behind the cheap seats in Anaheim. Allegedly, he was involved in fight but a suspect has yet to be named in the case.

2) A man was stabbed several times in the parking lot after the Los Angeles Dodgers’ home opener. The man survived and a suspect has yet to be named in the case. 

What is going on this season? This is the kind of violence one would expect in Oakland, Detroit or Philadelphia. You know, places where the crime rate is always high. Not sunny SoCal. And at the ballpark, of all places? Seems a little more than bizarre.

And what happened to the officer’s family — his wife and two young children? They obviously had to be near the fray. Did they escape unharmed? What did they see?

Angels spokesman Tim Mead said he thought facility security was great and that they couldn’t have done much, which is probably true. How is anybody supposed to know who is strapped? One has to assume there is, on average, one undercover cop at a game per season. That’s at least one gun extra. How many Angel Stadium security guards carry sidearms so as to match any potential fire power? I’ve never seen a single pistol holster though that old guy on the scooter looks like he can handle a weapon.

So in this “isolated incident” no one counts on an off-duty cop with a gun, especially the two guys — one a Marine – heckling him about his haircut, his visiting team (Colorado Rockies) cap or hooting at his hot wife.

Makes you think about the next time you might decide you want to open your mouth and say something mildly offensive to someone you don’t know before throwing a bottle at that person’s head. That person might have a gun.