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‘Our Kids Have Got To Be OK’ – Sheriff Asks For Public’s Help After Fatal Youth Football Park Double Shooting
October 3, 2022
“Our kids have got to be okay. This can never be okay in our community. It’s not going to be.”
That is what Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons had to say Monday afternoon about a fatal double shooting at a youth football game on Saturday.
A 22-year old male was pronounced deceased following the shooting at the Bellview Athletic Park — near the sideline the football field. He still had a gun in his hand. Another adult male was transported to a local hospital with gunshot wounds.
The search for suspects continued Monday as Simmons issued a plea with anyone at the game to share video and photos from the game, both before, during and after the “targeted” shooting.
The shooting happened after an altercation with as many as six other people and the two victims. At least two of the suspect left the ballpark and returned wearing masks. There was an exchange of gunfire, the sheriff said, between the victims and the suspects. Four to six people fled the scene in a vehicle, he said, adding that they are no longer looking for a Nissan Altima as previously announced Saturday evening.
So far, investigators have recovered 15 shell casings from the scene of the game between Bellview and Milton.
“We cannot have this. This is on a Saturday afternoon, surrounded by children and these idiots to decide that this is a good time to, to sort through a beef that’s been going on for months and sometimes, in many cases years. So people know the information, people know who is involved in the altercation, people know who is fighting, people know who were there, but they for some reason do not want to tell us,” Simmons said.
“If you want to be part of the solution, stop defending these people. Stop defending their actions. Whether they’re friends of yours, associates of yours, family members of yours. Because if you keep your mouth shut, this stuff is going to continue. We’re going to have all the deputies in the world out there, but we can’t be everywhere.
“So, I’m begging you, if you went to the game, if you were at the game, or if you’ve heard something, you can call Crime Stoppers, you can call our investigators.
Escambia County Commission Chairman Jeff Bergosh said the county will provide free grief counseling at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Wedgewood Community Center.
“We have a great community,” Bergosh said Monday. “This is not representative of the community of Belleview, and I just want people to know that these are outside influences coming in. They will be caught. I have no doubt the sheriff and his men are going to catch these people.”
“Let’s show up at these games and put a hedge of protection around our children. We can’t be afraid. We can’t give in. We must let our presence be shown. We cannot let the criminals win over our children,” Commissioner Lumon May added.
School Superintendent Tim Smith said grief counselors were made available Monday at five schools: Longleaf Elementary, Bellview Middle, Pine Forest High, Escambia High and Success Academy. Grief counseling was also available Monday at several schools in Santa Rosa County.
“This is an act of pure evil. It’s despicable what has happened,” Smith said. “It has spread out from the individuals involved to children. It is absolutely ridiculous. It is pure evil.”
Simmons said that no member of the Ladarius Clardy family was involved in any kind of retaliation, and no Clardy family members are suspects. Clardy was murdered in July 2021. “But I can tell you that some of the people that were involved in a clarity investigation are also suspects or people that are involved in this particular incident as well.”
“We are not going to tolerate this at our ballparks, we’re not going to tolerate this anywhere, but you cannot put our children at risk,” the sheriff stated.
Anyone with information, photos or videos is asked to call the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office at (850) 436-9620 or remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP.
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Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Comments
13 Responses to “‘Our Kids Have Got To Be OK’ – Sheriff Asks For Public’s Help After Fatal Youth Football Park Double Shooting”
Gangsters will be gangsters. But y’all won’t tell the cops who did it. You are part of the problem. You know who you are. There’s too much of this “hire a hit-man” deals going on.
Hey David, technology (keyboards, cups, hammers and even guns) comes with its own way of seeing once you’re using it. The experience of your own body is extended by the object, the tool. If you’re seeing and experiencing the world with a gun, you’re seeing and experiencing this world differently than someone without a gun, expanding your sense of your body to include the tool (the gun) your using. Gun+man=a new entity, with new possibilities for experience and action. Neurological evidence supports that assertion. Guns do kill people, guns are the problem, and other nations do not suffer for the gun violence our country suffers from because of lack of access to those tools. We’re all only human after all. Cheers mate!
REGARDING:
“when a man is handling a gun they become a gunman. Completely different from just a man without a gun. Brand new thing. New thoughts, reactions, and rationales.”
Maybe some are that silly.
Millions handle guns daily, yet millions do not turn into Mr. Hyde.
Evidence refutes the assertion.
David for rationality
Hi friends, when a man is handling a gun they become a gunman. Completely different from just a man without a gun. Brand new thing. New thoughts, reactions, and rationales. Hope this helps!
Joy, it is NOT a gun that did this. It was a person and please inform us all about this “weapon made for war”.
CONSIDERING:
“not a weapon made for war”
What weapon can not be used in a war?
What weapon can only be used in a war or would only be useful in time of war?
What can not be misused?
Why is it better to blame the tool than the tool user?
David for rationality
This area is looking more and more like Memphis. Sad.
This is getting out of hand now, first off Ladarious Clardy should have never been killed, that young man was trying to make something of himself and that’s rare to see these days. My condolences to the family. Now we got another young man just starting out in life, killed, and another injured, that could have been small children. The people that were there need to step up and get this garbage off the streets before someone else gets killed. It’s getting ridiculous, you hear everyday of someone getting killed in Pensacola and it’s got to stop. Please do what’s right, you would want the right thing done if it was your child.
@Joy. I completely agree!
guns, guns and more guns! adults that DO NOT LOCK THEM UP AND OR REMOVE THE ABLITY FOR IT TO SHOOT!! i BELIEVE IN A GUN TO PROTECT YOURSELF-and have one myself ONE–ONE–and not a weapon made for war
These are thugs, gang members, people who are too much of a coward to try to amount to something because they are purely evil, sorry fools. They had not a care in the world about other people, children or families. This was their hatefilled agenda and anyone who protects them is JUST AS GUILTY. Do the right thing and come forward. One thing is for sure, they’ll eventually be caught and the people protecting them will be known by all.
Stand Your Ground?
If the dead was armed, the killer may have had to defend self.
Or maybe not.
We shall see.
David for more information
If you know something step up this community belongs to you.