St. Louis Youth Football Coach Survives Shooting Incident During Practice

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) – A St. Louis youth football coach is out of the hospital and back on his feet after an attack during a football practice last week.

Shaquille Latimore, an assistant coach for St. Louis Bad Boyz, was shot by a parent during a football practice.

He was shot four times but lived to tell his story.

“Doctor said maybe a half inch to the left, I wouldn’t have been able to walk again; I’d be paralyzed,” said Latimore.

Latimore was simply helping to coach the Bad Boyz through practice at Sherman Park in North City when he got into a confrontation with 43-year-old Daryl Clemons, a parent.

“Yeah, that’s when he started shooting for real,” said Latimore.

Latimore was shot four times, hitting several organs and his back. But on Tuesday, he was released from the hospital.

Clemons has since been charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action, both felonies.

The incident clearly upset the team, including ten-year-old Antonio Gray.

“The parent, he gotta think about the future, he gotta think about what could have happened to the other kid, his own son, he gotta keep about his own son,” said Gray.

Jennifer Perkins was there helping to coach as well and had multiple kids of her own there.

“Hearing the gunshots and hearing them so close, my first reaction was mommy mode,” said Perkins.

The group was particularly upset when First Alert 4 spoke with them on Wednesday.

The playoff schedule was released, and the Bad Boyz, with a 4-3 record, was not one of three in their league to advance.

“The three teams in the playoffs, we smoked them,” said Latimore, and he was adamant his team did not have a worse record than the other teams that advanced.

Latimore thinks somebody made the call not to put them in the playoffs because of the shooting last week.

“I will step back just so they can let them have a season; don’t do that to them,” said Latimore.

“That’s crazy how they ended our season because of one person, one thing,” said Gray.

The city’s recreation division told First Alert 4 in a statement that they were responsible for canceling the season.

“After a series of incidents perpetuated by adults which culminated in Tuesday’s shooting, the Recreation Division decided to suspend the team’s participation in the CityRec Legends Football league. League rules are in place to ensure the protection of our youth participants, ages 5 to 13, and we will continue to uphold the rules to ensure this football season is safe and successful.”

Still, even after coaching led him to get shot, Latimore said eventually, he wants to help kids grow.

“I do still want to coach for sure,” said Latimore.

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2023-10-19 03:17:00
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