Overzealous Hockey Fan Visit With Police After Neighbor Calls 911

While 2020 has been a certifiable nightmare of stress and sacrifice, sports fans are finally returning to some slight normalcy late in the year.

The NBA finals are in full swing now, and October baseball has arrived despite all odds.  MLS is chugging along, and the NHL actually completed their season.  This was all considered unlikely just months ago, as the highly contagious coronavirus threatened to completely decimate the sports world for years to come.

And, knowing that absence often makes the heart grow fonder, fans of these athletic competitions are extremely excited to be back in action.

Perhaps a little too excited, actually.

A neighbor called sheriff’s deputies on some rabid Tampa Bay Lightning fans who were screaming “shoot! shoot!” as they watched Game 3 of the Stanley Cup final on television Wednesday night.

The call prompted several Hillsborough County Sheriff’s deputies to show up at Devon Garnett’s apartment door. He and two friends had gathered to watch the game at Garnett’s Radius Palms apartment.

In the first period, the trio began screaming for a goal, prompting the 911 call.

The caller told dispatchers someone was yelling loudly in the apartment above just before 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to Hillsborough County Sheriff’s spokesperson Natalia Verdina.

The misunderstanding was comical at best.

“So they came to the door and thought there were guns in the house,” Garnett, 26, told the Tampa Bay Times. “We’re like, ‘Nope, we’re just screaming for Steven Stamkos.’”

According to a sheriff’s office dispatch report released Thursday, the complainant told police he heard a couple screaming at each other, with one yelling, “I dare you to shoot!”

Police moved along after discussing the incident with both the upstairs and downstairs neighbors.