June 02--Guns aren't allowed at major league ballparks, so it seems rather strange that a fan appeared to have one sticking out of his waistband during a game at Minute Maid Park in Houston on Monday.
During the sixth inning of the Astros' 5-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles, television cameras caught a man celebrating after grabbing a foul ball during the sixth inning.
While celebrating, an object resembling a handgun is seen tucked into his waistband on the right side of his body. As he goes to sit down, he pulls his Superman T-shirt over the object to conceal it.
Hoping this guy at Minute Maid is some kind of undercover cop or something. #astros #gun pic.twitter.com/zczA8Bgyqn
-- Steven Miori (@StevenMiori) June 2, 2015
It seems strange someone would be able to get a firearm past security after Major League Baseball installed metal detectors at every ballpark as part of 2015 stadium security measures. Also, it's illegal to carry a firearm at a professional or amateur sporting event in Texas.
But it turns out that the man was an off-duty police officer. The Astros tweeted that he was one of more than 2,000 members of the Houston Police Department on hand to pay tribute to a fallen officer.
Yesterday we hosted over 2,000 members of the Houston Police Dept and their families to support Tyler Martin (cont'd) pic.twitter.com/fY3Qm8XPTg
-- #VoteAstros (@astros) June 2, 2015
Tyler Martin is the son of fallen officer Richard Martin who recently lost his life in the line of duty. (cont'd)
-- #VoteAstros (@astros) June 2, 2015
Some officers were in plain clothes, including the officer who was shown on our broadcast catching a foul ball (cont'd)
-- #VoteAstros (@astros) June 2, 2015
...as they attended this special ceremony for Tyler Martin.
-- #VoteAstros (@astros) June 2, 2015
We want to once again thank the officers, their families and our fans for honoring Richard yesterday. pic.twitter.com/Z2qmsUBxVZ
-- #VoteAstros (@astros) June 2, 2015
UPDATE10:05 a.m.: This post has been update with the news that the man with the gun is an off-duty police officer.This post originally was published at 9:43 a.m.
