Devon Garnett is a pretty big fan of the NHL team Tampa Bay Lightning. His team is in the Finals of the playoffs, and excitement is in the air. Garnett and two friends were watching the 3rd game of the series Wednesday night, and got a little animated… and loud.
In one first-period sequence, when Victor Hedman controlled the puck in the Lightning’s offensive zone, the friends began screaming, “Shoot! Shoot!” at the TV.
“So they came to the door and thought there were guns in the house,” said Garnett, 26. “We’re like, ‘Nope, we’re just screaming for Steven Stamkos.’”
When the neighbor called 911, the said that a couple was fighting in an apartment, and that one of them was yelling “I dare you to shoot!”
“Four deputies responded and discovered there were no domestic problems at the apartment in question,” a Sheriff’s Department spokesperson said in an e-mail. “It was a roommate screaming at the TV in regards to a Lightning game.”
The ‘incident’ ended quickly, with the men explaining what was going on. No guns, no violence, just a love for hockey and their team.
The incident reminds me of Ryan Whitaker, who was shot and killed by police when they went to his apartment after someone called to report a domestic violence situation. In that case, Whitaker answered the door with a firearm in-hand and once he realized it was the police, he went to put the firearm down but was shot in the back by an officer.
Whitaker died at the scene, and there was no domestic violence going on. Himself and his girlfriend were playing a game and yelling at the TV.
