Nine injured in shooting near England’s World Cup base in Kansas City
Nine people have sustained injuries in a shooting near England’s World Cup base in Kansas City, Missouri.
Police were called at around 4 a.m. Saturday to reports of an incident on Troost Avenue – less than 5 miles, or a 10-minute drive, from the training base camp and a little further in the other direction to the team hotel England will use during the tournament .
Kansas City Police Department captain Jake Becchina confirmed to the Athletic that officers had been dispatched after shots were heard being fired and arrived to find a large crowd dispersing. Three adult females had sustained injuries and were taken to a hospital.
It subsequently emerged that nine adults had gone to various local hospitals with non-life -threatening injuries. No suspects are in custody but officers are continuing to patrol the location.
On Thursday, the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners accepted a $17 million federal grant for World Cup security and safety, as detailed by KCTV5.
“We knew we needed the funding, so we kept moving forward with the planning,” KCPD Deputy Chief Derek McCollum said in the report. “We figured eventually that funding source would come through.”
England’s players and staff are currently in Palm Beach, Florida, where they are completing their World Cup preparations.
On Saturday, they defeated New Zealand 1-0 in their first warmup match in Tampa. They face Costa Rica at the Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando on Wednesday and fly to Kansas City on Saturday where they will stay for the remainder of the tournament.
They will train at Swope Soccer Village, the home of Sporting KC’s reserve team and academy, to the southeast of the city.
Argentina and the Netherlands are also based in Kansas City. The World Cup holders will use Sporting KC’s main training facility, while the Dutch will train at the base of NWSL side Kansas City Current.
Kansas City is expecting around 650,000 visitors during the World Cup, an unusually high influx for the area, which poses significant safety and security challenges for the area.
An FA spokesperson declined to comment when contacted by the Athletic.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.