Harrison parent, injured W.Va. player describe harrowing escape from Lancaster sports facility

A 16-year-old boy from West Virginia required several stitches in his arm after getting hurt during the chaos of a frantic crowd fleeing a Lancaster County youth basketball tournament over the weekend.

Rafael Barcinas of Morgantown — whose team included a dozen high-schoolers from the Alle-Kiski Valley, Penn Hills and Greensburg — was among about a dozen people who were injured Sunday afternoon when thousands of spectators, players and coaches scrambled to get outside the Spooky Nook Sports Complex amid shouts that someone inside had a gun or had been shot. The team had just finished warming up for their semifinal round shortly before 2 p.m. when a stampede of spectators came running toward and then past them.

“You see a bunch of people running and yelling, ‘Gun!’ and ‘Shooter!’ ” Rafael, who was knocked to the floor as he joined those sprinting toward the exit doors, recalled by phone Monday night. “The first thing that came to my mind was just, ‘Run.’ Your adrenaline is going.”

Authorities said Sunday and reaffirmed on Monday that there remains no evidence of a gun or a shooter at the event, which was swarmed by police who did a full sweep of the building while players waited for hours outside. Medics treated six people outside the facility in Manheim, and six others were hospitalized.

“There has been nothing to confirm the initial report of a gunshot being fired at this time,” police said, adding all of the injuries were related to people evacuating the building and from the sport itself.

East Hempfield police are continuing to review video and conduct interviews with those who were at the indoor complex to learn more about what caused the sudden mass exodus. There were reports of multiple, separate fights and acts of aggression breaking out among players beforehand, though it’s unclear what exactly led to the reports of a gun.

“It was absolutely chaos,” said Michael Foster, a Highlands Middle School basketball and football coach who was at the tournament as a parent. “Something caused a wave of people to run toward us. When you saw that and the noise of that screaming something about a weapon or gun or shooting, your instincts take over. You find your kids and get away.”

Neither Foster nor his son, who just turned 16 and will be a sophomore at Highlands High School this fall, were hurt. Their Amateur Athletic Union team was made up of 10 boys from several different schools — including players from Harrison, Fox Chapel and Penn Hills and Greensburg.

What began with about five to 10 players running off the court quickly escalated into hundreds of people sprinting toward one of six nearby exits.

“Get going! Get going!” Foster recalls shouting from his vantage point on the upper bleachers to the players, most of whom already had taken off running.

“The police had to sweep the entire building, ” Foster said of waiting hours in a field outside the facility. “We had no idea that it wasn’t a shooting or another serious situation. You see the police officers go in carrying their weapons, and you hear people talking about someone getting shot.”

As Rafael raced toward the nearest exit, he was shoved to the ground and felt his left arm land on something sharp. He quickly got up and took off running, dodging wires and equipment, as well as avoiding crashing into several young children.

Outside, amid more chaos and confusion, he found a few teammates and his mom, Jennifer Barcinas, who immediately noticed the blood pouring out of his arm.

“We’re yelling for help. I’m trying to find napkins and tissues,” recalled Jennifer Barcinas, noting someone in a car stopped to give them some antibacterial wipes. Jennifer Barcinas said she is grateful for the support of her son’s coaches, teammates and their loved ones, as well as new friends they made at the event and the local firefighters who helped care for Rafael’s wound before he received stitches at a nearby urgent care center.

“It could’ve been worse. I’m grateful that that’s all it is,” she said. “It was nice that we all came together. … I just hope that everyone can learn from this.”

A player with another team dislocated his shoulder when someone trampled on him. Rafael saw a man who appeared to be a parent or spectator on the ground unable to move his lower body.

Rafael said it’s a shame that any kind of violence, even minor brawls and spats, erupt during such a competition.

“We made it to the final four, we were confident in that game,” Rafael said. “It’s just basketball. It’s a game we love doing. It’s not meant to be fights. … It’s kind of ridiculous that people would do stuff like that.”

MacKenzie Bender, director of marketing for Spooky Nook, said Sunday security was on hand, checking every bag and purse as visitors entered the facility and conducting surveillance throughout the building.

Spooky Nook bills itself as the largest indoor sports complex in the country. The facility features a variety of indoor and outdoor fields and courts.

On Sunday, all 30 basketball courts were in use for the tournament organized by a group called Marquee Hoops. The visitor count was between 6,000 and 8,000 people, officials estimated.

Investigators asked anyone with video of the incident, or anyone who witnessed a firearm being used, to call detectives at 717-898-3103.

PennLive contributed to this report via the Tribune News Service.