White Sox fans left with questions about shooting ahead of Saturday’s game: ‘No one’s really given any answers’

A night after two people were wounded by gunfire inside Guaranteed Rate Field as the White Sox faced the Oakland Athletics, fans were left with many questions about the shooting — but had few answers.

At some point amid the fourth inning during Friday’s match, a 42-year-old woman was struck in the leg by a bullet and was taken to University of Chicago Medical center for treatment. A 26-year-old woman at the game was also grazed in the abdomen but declined medical attention, according to Chicago police. 

Where the bullets came from — whether inside the stadium or from somewhere outside — remained a mystery nearly a day later as fans gathered for the final game in the series Saturday evening.

Sox officials said the shooting didn’t stem from any altercation inside the stadium, which they say stadium footage backs up. A statement released by the team said the origin of the projectiles was still under investigation.

Police have said there wasn’t an “active threat” to the nearly 22,000 attendees of the game at any point, but have revealed little about their investigation and declined Saturday to answer questions about the shooting.

With the dearth of information, rumors circulated among fans ahead of Saturday night’s re-match between the Sox and A’s about what had happened, including a rumor that an off-duty police officer had accidentally fired the round. Others speculated the shots had been fired in the air outside the stadium and later rained down on the two unfortunate victims.

Madelyn Spagnola, 24, made the trip to the Bridgeport stadium from downstate to watch the game with her grandmother, Pat Spagnola, who lives in Des Plaines.

“I was hesitant to even come today because of it,” the elder Spagnola said. “No one’s really given any answers.”

But the lure of the night’s bobblehead giveaway and her granddaughter’s love for the stadium’s chicken tenders ultimately led them to the game despite their concerns.

“The fact that nothing has been said is a bit concerning,” Madelyn Spagnola said outside the field’s Gate 5. “People should feel safe when they go to a ballpark.”

“I’ll risk it for the bobblehead,” she added.

Bill and Pam Imes, of south suburban Burhnam, said they weren’t particularly worried, even though the season ticket holder’s seats were just a few sections from where the two women were injured.

“It doesn’t bother me that much,” Bill said at the couple’s tailgate spot in Lot B ahead of their 14th game of the year, and “certainly” not their last of the season.

“He’s there, I’m fine,” Pam added while laughing. “He’d take a bullet for me.”

The pair said their main concerns were with the team’s current pitching roster, it’s management, and the team’s owner, Jerry Reinsdorf.

Ald. Nicole Lee (11th) said she was “shocked and sickened” that the two women were hurt at the game and had requested a meeting with the White Sox to “discuss protocols to ensure fans’ safety at future games.”

A one-minute video released by the team showed the crowd’s limited reaction about the time the women was struck.

In the video, a fan near the aisle of Section 161 in the stadium’s left field is seen standing up and then looking toward the ground. Fans then started calling security over. Most spectators in the area had no reaction, apparently unaware that something had happened, including two small children seen jumping up on the stadium’s steps nearby just moments before.

Many on social media slammed the team for continuing play as detectives investigated a shooting that happened not far from the Sox bullpen.

“They just kept playing like nothing happened?” one person posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

A postgame concert — the second of the season, which was slated to feature Vanilla Ice, Rob Base and Tone Loc — was called off, with a message on the main scoreboard after the game attributing the cancellation to “technical issues.”

“Nobody died, but you know, some nutjob kind of ruined the night for everybody,” rapper Vanilla Ice, whose legal name is Robert Matthew Van Winkle, said in a Tik Tok posted to his account Saturday. “And I just want to say, you know, to the city of Chicago, to the state of Illinois, to all of the organization — of all baseball in general — just, they didn’t deserve this, and the White Sox facility is first-class, second to none. The police did a great job.”

Scott Reifert, the team’s vice president of communications, said the concert “was not canceled for any security concern. It was canceled so CPD could go and investigate the area. They needed the lights to be on, and they needed fans to be out of the area.”

Contributing: James Fegan