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Conway police investigate Monday night shooting incident at Sports Complex

An ordinary game of tee-ball in Conway turned scary on Monday as parents, coaches, and players all heard gunshots near the Sports Complex.

CONWAY, Ark. — Update: The Conway Police Department arrested Demetrius Ross, 20, and Grant Allison, 18, on Thursday in connection to the shots fired incident.

Ross was taken into custody on four counts of terroristic act, while Allison was charged with four counts of unlawful discharge of a firearm from a vehicle.

Both men are being held at the Faulkner County Detention Center without bond until their first court appearance.

On Monday night, tee ball and softball games in Conway were interrupted by the sounds of gunshots.

The next morning, the city held a press conference to share more details as to what happened and their plans for increasing safety in the future.

One parent said she and her kid's tee-ball team took cover as soon as they realized there were gunshots. 

"It keeps going through my head though, like over and over and over again," Tee-ball coach and mother, Sandi Pharris said.

An ordinary game turned scary when she heard gunshots at the Don Owen Sports Complex in Conway.

"I was standing on the third baseline. And I kind of looked around because I thought I heard fireworks or firecrackers or something," Pharris explained.

She quickly realized they were gunshots, so then she took action to make sure the kids were safe. 

"I started yelling, Everybody get down, Everybody get down and got all the kids laying down flat on the field. And I was looking around at the parents and everybody to tell him to get down," she said.

When she felt it was safe enough to get up, she grabbed a phone to call 911. 

"As soon as I held the phone up to my ear to talk to the 911 lady, I saw the police cars flying by. They were here quick," Pharris described. 

By the time the officers arrived around 7:00 p.m., police said the two people who were shooting at each other had already left. 

Conway Mayor Bart Castleberry said police responded in less than two and a half minutes, but said there's still room for improvement. 

"We're going to go ahead and have our added police presence out there tonight. So it starts tonight. So I want folks to feel safe," Mayor Castleberry explained. "This is the first time that we've had an occurrence of this nature in Conway, I understand everyone's frustration. I understand everyone's fear and everyone's concern."

However, Pharris said she isn't letting this situation stop her from coaching tee ball. 

"We've got a great team. It's just so much fun. So we'll be back for sure," she added.

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