Jamaal Tinsley Dodges Gunfire This Morning

by Tom Lewis on Dec 9, 2007 9:02 AM EST in News Comment 4 comments

Jamaal Tinsley escaped harm around 3:40a.m. this morning when an assault rifle was fired into his Rolls Royce, wounding Pacers' equipment manager Joey Qatato in the elbow. Here's the Indy Star story so far.

A police statement said the incident began at a club called "Cloud 9" on West 38th Street earlier.

"The group was attempting to leave (Cloud 9) in three different vehicles, all of which belonged to Mr. Tinsley," the statement said.

"Apparently another group had gathered around one of Tinsley's vehicles in the parking lot and there was a confrontation. Tinsley's group left but realized that they were being followed so they pulled in to the Conrad downtown instead of going home."

The shooting began after they reached the hotel, police said. The Rolls Royce was struck by several bullets. A second vehicle was also hit, but no one was injured.

"The suspected weapon is a .223 assault rifle," the police statement said. Authorities are looking for gray Chrysler and a dark pickup truck.

Ugh...the curse of idle time. Having a few days off is usually a good thing, but once again, Tins and friends found a way to make everyone in town shake their head.

The initial police report makes it sound like Tins and group didn't incite whatever led to the shooting. It will be interesting to see who else was in the group with Tins. Nice move pulling into the Conrad, sounds like it could've been far worse.

There just aren't enough facts to comment on any of this, other than it won't help with the apathetic fans around town that the Pacers are trying to lure back to the Fieldhouse. Before you jump to conclusions about Tinsley and his character, remember, all we have right now is a group tracking down Tins and friends and firing on him. Please don't tell me he shouldn't be at a club, that's simply ridiculous.

Sticking with the assumptions that Tins is clean in this incident and a victim of his local celebrity status, the Pacers and Tins himself better get out the word early and often.

UPDATE
UPDATE
UPDATE

0 recs | Comment 4 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

it's too bad

just one night after the biggest win of the season and with the good vibes starting to return to the pacers, this happens.

ive been real critical of tinsley in the past for some of these incidents but it sounds like he was the victim here. seems like a case of a couple of thugs trying to show how tough they were by shooting up a rich NBA player.

i dont understand why rich black men are targeted so often. it's truly a sad story.

by schultz950 on Dec 9, 2007 10:29 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Tinsley will get hammered for this I'm sure

unless the Pacers are proactive with the PR spin. Many around here will only hear "Tinsley" and "gunshots" and form their opinion without considering the story.

by Tom Lewis on Dec 9, 2007 10:39 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

and for once, i think its unfair

how can tinsley have any control of the situation when random people are shooting at him with an assualt rifle?

i hope everyone will at least keep an open mind with the situation until all the details are known.

by schultz950 on Dec 9, 2007 10:42 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Call me ridiculous

To quote Cornrows:

"Please don't tell me he shouldn't be at a club, that's simply ridiculous.

Sticking with the assumptions that Tins is clean in this incident and a victim of his local celebrity status, the Pacers and Tins himself better get out the word early and often."

Well Cornrows, I personally don't think he should be at a club after 3am. He's a professional athlete. Also doesn't he have a family?

And as a celebrity, if he's going to be on West 38th St, an area known for it's strip bars and the former Jackson shooting incident (wasn't he there for that?), he might not want to be there at 3am when it's highly likely that there will be a lot of drunk people around. Again, he is a celebrity and has a different set of rules from most of us. It probably shouldn't be that way, but it is. That's why he's called a celebrity. He's also supposed to be a professional athlete.

He also has a responsibility as a representative of the Pacers and Indiana to think about where he is, what time it is and what he is doing---and what other people around him are doing.

Is it 10am on a Sunday at church or 3am on a Saturday night in an area of bars and strip clubs and drunk non-celebrities where he was previously involved in a shooting incident?

And wasn't there yet another bar fight incident a few months ago he was involved in? How many other incidents were there that didn't make the news? I'm counting 3 in a year that made it...

I read on another post how these "poor innocent NBA stars" seem to get harassed by us common folk when they're out. Well golly geez whiz, if you're famous, rich, and parking your Rolls in a lot with Fords and Chevys and it's 3am and you're at a bar in an area where you were previously involved in a shooting and something happens, should you really be that surprised?

So if you want me to say "Oh poor poor Jamal and his gun toting brother", you can forget it.

What I do say again is "No, I don't think Jamal should have been at that night club"

by zenderna on Dec 17, 2007 9:15 PM EST reply actions 0 recs