Indy coach Jim O’Brien says he’s “just happy no one was killed”, and if you think he’s glad, you oughta check out the grin on Whitlock’s face. He’s got next week’s column half-finished, now. From the Indianapolis Star’s John Strauss and Francesca Jarosz :
Jamaal Tinsley of the Pacers (above, right) and several companions were shot at by someone with an assault rifle outside the Conrad Hotel in Downtown Indianapolis early today, and a friend of Tinsley™s was wounded.
Police were called to the hotel at about 3:40 a.m. after Pacers equipment manager Joey Qatato, 48, was struck in both elbows as he sat in the back seat of Tinsley’s Rolls Royce. Tinsley, 29, was in the front passenger seat.
An official at Methodist Hospital said Qatato was treated and released before noon.
Sgt. Paul Thompson, a spokesman for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, said that after the shooting at the Conrad, 50 W. Washington St, two of the three vehicles in Tinsley’s group followed the shooters in a chase to Monument Circle, two blocks away.
Tinsley’s brother, James, fired a weapon during that chase, but it was unknown whether anyone was hit. Jamaal Tinsley was not involved in the chase, Thompson said.
Pacers coach Jim O’Brien said Tinsley was excused from practice today œbecause he went through a traumatic experience last night and we wanted him to get away from basketball for the day.
Thompson said the incident began at a club called Cloud 9 on West 38th Street.
A group was giving members of Tinsley’s crew a hard time about the expensive cars they were driving “ a Mercedes, Rolls Royce and Dodge Charger “ and the amount of money they made.
Not to make light of a serious situation, but the 2008 Dodge Charger carries a MSRP of $23,350.00. If that’s the kind of car you can get shot for driving, I’m gonna start taking the bus.