Police are still looking for the person or people who fired nine shots more than two months ago near a youth football championship game in Bethlehem.
The game had just ended at 4:30 p.m. Nov. 8 when the shots rang out near Sell Field, which was packed with hundreds of spectators, police said.
Police said they found nine shell casings on the corner of Rodgers and Lewis streets in Bethlehem.
“This is still an open and active investigation. No further information to release at this time,” Bethlehem Police Chief Michelle Kott said in an email Tuesday, Jan. 6.
She confirmed police requested video footage from cameras on the Bethlehem City maintenance building on Rodgers Street and the Service Electric substation building at the corner of Rodgers and Lewis streets.
A statement from the Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Football League says it’s unclear whether the shots fired had anything to do with the championship game between the Allentown A’s and Bethlehem Steelers.
The statement was sent to leaders of the various community teams who play in the league. An official with the Nazareth Clippers shared the message with lehighvalleylive.com.
The statement issued shortly after the incident emphasizes that three championship games took place that day with no issues. It says the league will work with police and “have a discussion with all of our organizations about this.”
“We will come up with a plan for the future together. Should any violation of the Eastern Pennsylvania league rules of conduct occurred, there would be punishment,” the statement says.
Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Football League President Jeff Silfies declined to speak about the incident or any plans resulting from it because the incident remains under investigation by police.
The official with the Nazareth Clippers said the Clippers left the Eastern Pennsylvania league in December to join the Colonial Youth Football League. He said the Eastern Pennsylvania league wasn’t doing a good enough job of curbing fan and parent misbehavior.
The Eastern Pennsylvania league has a code of conduct that lays out punishments for bringing weapons, alcohol or tobacco to games. The code encourages sportsmanship, ethical conduct and responsible use of social media among league players, families and coaches.