California Father Recalls Harrowing Experience with Gunman at Child’s Soccer Game

It seems as though the 21st century is full of new and multiplying terrors, especially for the parents of America.

All in all, things can seem pretty bleak at times.  There are concerns over the climate, the constant threat of terrorism, and a general sense that youth culture is growing ever more reckless by the day. (I mean, kids were eating Tide Pods for YouTube views just a year ago).

To top it all off, a spate of mass shootings have landed on our metaphorical doorstep, and a number of these incidents have specifically targeted school children from Colorado to Connecticut.

One father in California recently found himself in a terrifying situation involving a firearm and his own daughter, and took to his personal blog to relate the story.

As Craig Cecilio was awaiting the medal ceremony at a soccer tournament with his daughter, the unthinkable happened.

They finally started handing out awards and my daughter is second to last in line. One more player to go and I am out of here. Then it happened. All of a sudden everyone starts running. Its a stampede! What is going on? I try talking to a parent and her words come out jumbled. She is frantic and screaming. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. Then I hear the word…. SHOOTER!!! I slowly start surveying the large soccer fields but don’t see or hear anything. It feels like time is standing still for me. I stay calm as I survey the landscape.

Then I hear a voice—as if I have Kal-El (Superman) hearing. It’s my daughter’s voice crying out of the crowd! I shout out to tell her that I am here and to start moving towards the car. I am still surveying the landscape and don’t see anyone or hear anything.  I start heading to find my daughter.  My gut tells me it is not an automatic rifle. I don’t know why but that is what I am thinking.

My daughter is freaking out as we jog to the car. I notice she is running really fast. She is definitely worried. We get to the car, get in, and she immediately ducks. I said, “don’t worry, Dad is here to protect you and we have a good car to get out of here.” It is 4-wheel drive and we are on a dirt track. Naturally, I punch it and we bolted out of there!

The impetus of this panic was some truly ridiculous behavior, by adults no less.

Five minutes after we left the area, my daughter receives a text from one of her teammates. As it turns out, two parents got into an argument and one pulled a gun on the other. Damn. C’mon, soccer Dads! They take this way too seriously. Thank God no one was harmed.

Thankfully, there were no injuries of any kind reported in the incident, and not a shot was fired.