A Missouri children’s football coach has revealed the horrifying moment he was shot by a disgruntled father in a row over his son’s playing time on the field.
Shaquille Latimore (30) was shot and killed on October 10 in front of a large group of children made up of several teams in the culmination of a weeks-long argument.
After suspected shooter Daryl Clemmons, 43, turned himself into police and now faces charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action, Latimore spoke out to explain the horrific incident in detail.
“I thought he was going to kill me,” he told Newsnation. “I mean he shot while I didn’t have a gun, I didn’t have any weapon, I was defenseless on the ground.”
Speaking from his hospital bed, Shaquille Latimore (30) admitted that he thought the shooter was going to kill me when he recounted the horrific incident in which he was shot four times.
Latimore was shot four times in the leg, arm, back, abdomen and suffered injuries to his internal organs, but says he is recovering in hospital and is ‘getting better day by day’
Daryl Clemmons, 43, turned himself in at the North Patrol Division station and was charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action the day after the Oct. 11 shooting.
Speaking from his hospital bed, Latimore said the shooting unfolded after he benched a young player because he “didn’t have a good game the day before,” a move that infuriated the alleged shooter.
Latimore, a married father of five, said he approached the angry father ‘because we had words’, which quickly escalated into the horrific shooting.
“While I was trying to talk to him or whatever, he pulled out his gun, and I saw his gun, like, I kind of ran away, jumped off, like jumped off the top parking lot onto the grass. And he shot me,’ he said.
Latimore was hit in the leg, arm, back, abdomen and suffered injuries to his internal organs, after Clemmons reportedly continued to shoot into the coach as it hit the ground.
“He shot me once in the back, then he shot me two or three more times while I was on the ground … And I mean, I was just in disbelief.”
After firing four shots in front of horrified bystanders, Latimore says the gunman told him: ‘You thought it was over? You thought you got your one off?’
Latimore added that the shooting was made worse by the fact that not only his team of nine and 10-year-olds witnessed it, but several other year groups from as young as seven and as old as 12 were also bystanders.
Latimore told authorities that the defendant was “upset with him for not starting his son,” according to a probable cause statement filed by the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office was provided.
Clemmons opened the 9U St. a few years ago. Louis Recreation League coached Bad Boyz before Latimore joined as a volunteer assistant coach working with his cousin
The married father of five
Latimore’s mother, SeMiko Latimore, said she was familiar with Clemmons’ “antics” from past practices.
‘He was a bit extra. You always knew he was there.
“Shaquille is one of those fair coaches, so he tries to rotate all the kids in. The parent was a little unhappy and wanted his kid to do more than anybody else and was upset with the way things were done,” she said.
‘(The shooting) is senseless. We are supposed to bring these kids off the streets and teach them what to do, what not to do.
“We’ve traumatized all these kids because their coach was shot in front of them. He could have easily hit one of those kids.’
The coach’s mother, SeMiko Latimore, said she was familiar with the alleged shooter’s ‘antics’ in previous practices
According to s fundraiser set up to help Latimore recover, reaching more than $7,000 in a matter of days, the severity of his injuries means the trainer “will be out of work indefinitely.”
As he recovers in the hospital and gets “better day by day,” Latimore has seen an outpouring of support from his young players and their families.
Latimore said the adoration of his players is “how I get my blessings,” and said his role as a community leader is fueled by the help he received from coaches when he was a kid.
“You know, someone did it for me. Somebody coached me when I was younger, and you know, just kept me off the streets.
‘St. Louis is a cold place, a real cold place it will swallow you up if you let it. I love those kids, every last one of them.
‘I coach hard. I kind of apply everything we do in football to life, because we like hard work, where nothing is given.
‘No, just the same thing, the same thing that is in life. No, you can’t just go out and just get a job. You have to work hard. Can’t just go out and just get something. We have to work hard.’