Texas A&M-Texarkana baseball player hit by stray bullet during game still in ICU, police arrest 5 people
Matthew Delaney is still hospitalized, and doctors have yet to remove a bullet lodged near his spine
The Texas A&M-Texarkana baseball player who was struck by a stray bullet during their home game Saturday is still in intensive care and dealing with partial paralysis of his left leg, his mom confirmed to ESPN on Tuesday.
Matthew Delaney, an 18-year-old freshman, was struck by a stray bullet while he was standing in the bullpen during a game Saturday at George Dobson Field at Spring Lake Park in Texarkana, Texas. Matthew, his mom Amy Delaney said, was shot in the chest during the Eagles’ game against Houston-Victoria. The game was called off, and Delaney was transported to a local hospital.
“He was where he was supposed to be doing what he was supposed to be doing,” Amy said, via ESPN. “It’s not something that we would ever have imagined.”
Amy said Tuesday that her son is still in intensive care, and that doctors can’t yet remove the bullet that’s lodged near his spine. He is starting to regain some sensation in his left leg, and can occasionally wiggle a toe, but he can’t move the leg yet. One of his lungs also collapsed as a result of the shooting, though that’s starting to improve too. It’s slowly inflating, she said, but he still has a chest tube in to drain fluid from the lung.
It’s still unclear how long Matthew will be in the hospital, or what his status will be moving forward.
"They have been here every day, calling, coming in, the team, the staff," Amy said, via ESPN. "Everyone has reached out. They've sent food to us. They have just been so supportive as a community. We've had three different small businesses that have made donations to Matthew that are just trying to help any way they can."
Police arrest 5 in shooting
Police have arrested five people in connection with the incident, including two they believe were the alleged shooters.
The incident started, Texarkana police believe, after two men started shooting at each other in front of a house about 400 yards away from the baseball field. It’s unclear what sparked that altercation.
DeMarco Banks, 20, was arrested and charged with deadly conduct. Kamauri Butler, 17, was charged with aggravated assault. Police believe Banks and Butler were the two shooters. Officers also arrested 49-year-old Yankeenga Smith for unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon and two counts of possession of a controlled substance. Nathan Moore, 19, was arrested and charged with both tampering with evidence and possession of marijuana, and 19-year-old Marcell Beaver was charged with possession of marijuana.
Police said in a Facebook post Tuesday that they do not expect to make any further arrests in the case.
