Three people were injured when dozens of gunshots were fired after a basketball tournament game at Gardella Park in White Plains late Thursday, August 7, according to White Plains Police Commissioner David Chong.
Chong said an investigation found two groups were involved in a dispute as the Ferris World Ball tournament was ending for the night and attendees were returning to their cars.
Shots were fired after one group confronted the other, he added. A 24-year-old woman sustained injuries to her shoulder and two men, ages 22 and 18, were shot in the hands.
The victims were taken to Westchester Medical Center for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.
The Ferris World Ball Tournament, the decades-old youth, high school and men’s basketball summer league founded in White Plains in the 1980s, initially had its championship game scheduled for Sunday, August 10, at the Westchester County Center. But the event was cancelled and city officials announced the league would be discontinued.
Mayor Thomas Roach and Beth Bricker, the city’s parks commissioner, said in a statement Friday that discussions about discontinuing the league had already been underway this year but that the shooting “accelerated the process.”
“The men’s basketball league over the years has grown into a regional draw, outstripping the capacity of Gardella Park and the neighborhood it serves,” they said. “Attempts to mitigate the impact including moving the final game to the County Center have not brought relief.”
Chong said on Sunday that no arrests had been made yet and detectives were still trying to determine how many shooters there were. There was evidence that more than 40 shots were fired, he said.
Anyone who witnessed the scene or has video is asked to call the White Plains Department of Public Safety at 914-432-6210.
Staff writer Jonathan Bandler contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: White Plains shooting injures 3 after dispute at Ferris World Ball basketball tournament
Reporting by Alexandra Rivera, Rockland/Westchester Journal News / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
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