UNION COUNTY, N.C. — A referee was arrested after firing a concealed weapon inside a youth sports athletic facility, according to the Union County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies, who were already on scene to act as security, arrested 49-year-old Ernest Davis at the scene, officials said.
Davis was working as a referee for a youth sporting event when he fired a weapon that had been concealed in his gym bag, officials said.
Officials said the crowd was filled with parents and children. Fortunately, no one was struck and no one was hurt.
“I was about 50 feet away from the shot my son here was playing in a basketball game at the time he was even closer to where it happened,” one parent told Channel 9’s Glenn Counts. “He was within 20 feet of the situation, so my first thought when I heard the sound, I thought it was a metal chair falling on the ground but a little louder but at that time it got everyone’s attention, everything stopped we went over toward the kids made sure they were safe.”
Davis has been charged with carrying a concealed weapon and discharging a firearm into occupied property.
Sheriff Eddie Cathey issued a statement reminding gun owners to practice safe firearm ownership.
“Safe gun ownership can help avoid situations like this and prevent unnecessary injuries or a tragic loss of life,” he said.
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