After watching their team suffer a beatdown at the hands of LSU Saturday night, some West Virginia “fans” apparently decided to take out their anger over the loss on a group of Tiger fans attending the game.
Allegedly.
According to WBOY-TV, four LSU fans were assaulted -- presumably by individuals with a heavy WVU loyalty lean -- in a parking lot near Milan Puskar Stadium. One victim suffered significant injuries in the alleged attack.
Here’s the TV station’s account of what transpired:It happened in the Purple Lot as the fans were leaving in their vehicle headed toward Route 705, police said in a news release. That’s when an unidentified person threw a rock through the open window of the victim’s car. When the driver asked a group of people standing nearby if they threw the rock, police say the group approached the car and assaulted the driver.
The driver’s wife and two other people in the car got out and were also assaulted, according to police. They sustained minor injuries.
The driver was transported to Monongalia General Hospital for treatment and later transferred to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center for surgery.
There were rumors bouncing around the Internet earlier today that the woman mentioned above was five months pregnant, although that’s not been confirmed by any reliable news source.
No arrests have been made in connection to the incident, although an investigation by the Morgantown Police Department is ongoing.
This continues what’s been a weekend the WVU football program would rather forget. In addition to the loss on the field and the alleged assault off it, WVU’s locker room was broken into and items stolen during the LSU game.
And, please, don’t even start on the “WVU fans are nothing but redneck thugs” BS. Every fan base has their derelicts, and WVU is no different. The picture of an entire fan base shouldn’t be painted with the same brush because of the actions of a handful.
Now, let the stereotyping commence in earnest in three... two... one...
UPDATED 8:28 P.m. ET: The Charleston Daily Mail has a report on the story as well, and provides some additional details.
The mother-in-law of the man who was injured confirmed that the four individuals who were assaulted were LSU fans, although there was nothing on the vehicle identifying it as being fans of the school. “It was just a random act of violence,” Helen Smith, the mother-in-law, told the paper.
Smith also confirmed that her daughter was in the car and is 22 weeks pregnant. The rock that was thrown through the window to start the incident landed in the pregnant woman’s lap. After three men dragged her husband from the vehicle, the beating didn’t stop until the woman began screaming that she’s pregnant.
The man suffered a broken nose, a crushed eye socket and a fractured frontal bone in the middle of his forehead.
The pregnant woman suffered bruising on her arms, legs and shoulders; fortunately, their unborn child was unharmed.
As of Monday evening, no arrests have been made.