St. Louis youth football team cancels season after parent allegedly shoots coach over non-starting role

A youth football team’s season was canceled after the coach was shot multiple times, allegedly by a parent who was upset his son was not a starting player, court documents state.

The shooting occurred on Oct. 10 while the coach, Shaquille Latimore, was holding a practice for the Bad Boyz Team at Sherman Park in north St. Louis, NBC affiliate KSDK of St. Louis reported. Police said Latimore was found near the football field with multiple gunshot wounds and was immediately taken to the hospital for surgery.

He is recovering after being shot four times, according to court records.

Daryl Brian Clemmons, the father of one of Latimore’s players, was arrested in connection with the shooting and charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action, according to the court documents. His attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.

But Clemmons' brother disputed Latimore's claim that the shooting stemmed from an argument over Clemmons' son not being a starter. Jason Clemmons said his brother and the coach got into a dispute days prior and that Daryl Clemmons was defending himself. Witnesses told KSDK that the coach was the aggressor.

"It wasn’t over my nephew," Jason Clemmons told the news station.

Jason Clemmons could not immediately be reached on Friday. Latimore declined to comment.

Police and court documents state that the two men got into a verbal argument on the day of the shooting. A probable cause statement says that before shots rang out, Latimore "pulled his gun out and gave it to someone to hold and that the defendant subsequently shot him multiple times while he was unarmed."

Jason Clemmons said that Latimore handed his gun to his friend so he could get into a fistfight with Daryl Clemmons. Jason Clemmons alleged that Latimore fell during the brawl and asked his friend to give him the gun back.

"In the midst of him getting the gun in his hand, our brother shot in self-defense," Jason Clemmons told the station.

One parent of a team member said the coach initiated the incident and had walked off the field during practice to confront Daryl Clemmons.

"He should have stayed on the field," the parent told KSDK, declining to give his name out of fear of retaliation.

He also said Daryl Clemmons told Latimore several times to leave him alone before things escalated.

"They are putting an innocent person in jail," the parent continued. "The coach started this."

The City of St. Louis Recreation Division told KSDK in a statement that following a "series of incidents perpetrated by adults which culminated in Tuesday’s shooting," the football team was suspended.

"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," the division said.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com