A trio of suspects with Islamic names are facing felony charges after a youth baseball coach was shot during a pregame invocation in Texas this week, authorities say.
The harrowing incident unfolded on Sunday in Waller County.
A youth baseball tournament was held over the weekend at TheRac, a complex on the outskirts of Katy.
Participants were gathered at home plate to pray before one of the games when gunfire erupted nearby and a 27-year-old coach was struck in the arm.
Footage clipped from a livestream of the contest has been circulating on social media.
JUST IN: Three males with Islamic names arrested after youth baseball coach shot during pregrame prayer in Katy, TX
Mahmood Abdelsalam Rababah, 23
Ahmad Mawed, 21
Mustafa Mohammad Matalgah, 27All charged with Deadly Conduct – Discharge of a Firearmpic.twitter.com/d6uff0eTQV
— Border Hawk (@BorderHawkNews) September 25, 2025
Players and officials can be seen running for cover as rounds were fired in rapid succession.
“This kind of sounds like a little bit close today, not normal distance from a baseball field,” Corbin Geisendorff, a coach who was on-scene told KHOU.
“It wasn’t one shot, there’s bullets flying everywhere off the poles onto the field, it’s just unbelievable, so yeah we’ll never be back there.”
Authorities quickly blamed the incident on misfortune, and TheRac issued a statement citing “recreational shooting on a nearby property” after reporting “illegal hunting” to local police earlier in the day.
“Now that we have more information, we know that their were 3 individuals target practicing 600/700 yards away. Just a TERRIBLE accident,” TheRac wrote in response to a Facebook user questioning the official narrative.
On Wednesday, the Waller County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) announced that three male suspects were in custody.
The men were identified as Mahmood Abdelsalam Rababah, 23; Ahmad Mawed, 21; Mustafa Mohammad Matalgah, 27.
All three have been charged with Deadly Conduct – Discharge of a Firearm, a felony offense.
They are each being held on $100,000 bond.
The injured coach was airlifted to a local hospital in stable condition and released after receiving treatment.
Witnesses say he potentially saved the lives of several children.
“He literally took the bullet for a child that was to his left, and so thankfully we avoided a major disaster. Still very, very emotional over it,” another coach stated.
“When he was struck by the bullet, his first reaction was to get down to the ground, cover his kids and get them to a safe space.”
An investigation is ongoing.
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