A man was accidentally killed at a high school track and field meet in Colorado early Sunday morning when a hammer weight thrown by a competitor cleared the barriers and hit him, officials confirmed.
The unidentified bystander was at a meeting at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs when the hammer — a weight attached to a grip that swings in a circular motion and then is thrown — went into the crowd instead of the field around 9:30 a.m., the college said. said in a statement.
Local TV station KTV reported The man was the father of a competitor who attends a local high school, according to a statement from the Colorado United Track Club. The statement added that after the accident, the rest of the meet was canceled and the athletes were asked to go home. NBC News has reached out to the club for comment.
The college said the identity of the victim will be released by the El Paso County Coroner’s Office, which covers Colorado Springs.
“During a club sports track and field meet for Colorado high school students at the Mountain Lion Fieldhouse on the University of Colorado Colorado Springs campus, a member of the attending audience was killed when a participant threw a A hammer was thrown, the university’s statement said, and he was hit.
Police and the Colorado Springs Fire Department attended the scene and provided medical care, but “ultimately pronounced the audience member dead at the scene.”
“We are heartbroken over this terrible accident and are focused on supporting all those involved,” UCCS Chancellor Jennifer Subnett said in the statement.
The track and field event was one of a three-meet series that began last year on December 15, each held on the UCCS campus.
