Player Shot During Pickup Basketball Game at Park

A routine pickup basketball game in Hawthorne turned into a grim urban drama late Tuesday when a man who became irate over a foul call opened fire with a .380-caliber handgun, wounding his opponent.

“Everybody was surprised by it,” said Hawthorne Police Sgt. Don Pedersen. “It was just a pickup game. It was completely unexpected.”

Police said the argument stemmed from a foul called on the gunman by an opposing player. The man, who police later identified as Donald Gibson, 28, of Hawthorne, was so incensed by the call that he ordered his 11-year-old nephew to hand him a bag.

He promptly unzipped it, pulled out the handgun and began firing, according to police.

Pedersen said Hawthorne Memorial Park at El Segundo Boulevard and Prairie Avenue was crowded with dozens of people when the shots rang out around 6:15 p.m. People scattered from the area as the man unloaded three shots into the nearby crowd of basketball players.

One of the shots hit the player who was guarding him, a 17-year-old senior at Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles. The unidentified teen was treated at County-Harbor UCLA Medical Center, where he was listed in good condition.

Police said they had no trouble finding the alleged gunman--he was pointed out by other players and numerous other park patrons--fleeing on foot near the park.

Gibson was booked at Hawthorne Jail on suspicion of attempted murder. He was being held without bail, according to police.

“It was a very strange thing,” Pedersen said. “It happened in front of everybody during a basketball game.”