Police investigating allegations college baseball team was poisoned with paint thinner
Police are investigating allegations that multiple members of a college baseball team were poisoned with paint thinner in a water cooler, according to the Kansas City Star.
The alleged poisoning occurred Sunday during a game between Kansas Wesleyan University and Bethany College, with the KWU team accusing Bethany, the home team, of spiking the cooler. According to the Star, it appears at least seven people drank the tainted water, six of them affiliated with Kansas Wesleyan.
All are reportedly recorded as victims of a criminal threat involving contaminated “food/water sources” or battery from someone knowingly/recklessly causing bodily harm. Bethany College also filed a police report for criminal damage to property, the damaged property being the poisoned water cooler.
Of the seven alleged victims, six are reportedly students and one is a staff member. Six are between 20 and 23 years old, while the seventh is 31 years old.
The allegations were publicly aired by a Twitter account identified as "KWU Barstool," which is reportedly not affiliated with either Kansas Wesleyan or Barstool Sports. The account indicated the players affected had not been harmed.
Putting PAINT THINNER in our water coolers to get our baseball players sick and still getting toasted by 31 runs is WILD. Stay classy! Glad all our players are okay #buckfethany pic.twitter.com/GqPFVqwQra
— KWU Barstool (@BarstoolKwu) April 25, 2022
The police report was filed Monday, after the discovery of the foreign substance in the water cooler. The two teams had played a doubleheader on Sunday after a postponement Saturday, with Bethany winning the first game 8-7 and KWU winning the second game 33-2, an astounding score even for a team that hadn't been allegedly poisoned.
Lindsborg Police Department administrative assistant Julia Duell told the Star it is making no assumptions about the perpetrator despite some assertions:
“We don’t know who did that,” Duell said. “They can’t assume at this point in time that it was Bethany or KW students. That’s being investigated, who actually did that … those are not usable now.”
Both schools have also reportedly opened their own investigations into the incident.
When reached by TMZ, KWU confirmed it was reviewing the matter in cooperation with the police:
"Kansas Wesleyan is aware of the primary tweet — made by an account not affiliated with the university — regarding this situation. We take this extremely seriously. Therefore, we immediately began a thorough, in-depth review, with the priority of putting the health and safety of our student-athletes first."
The school continued ... "This review, which includes complete cooperation with the Lindsborg, KS Police Department’s investigation of the matter, is ongoing and is a high priority."
Bethany College also said it was cooperating with police:
"Bethany College takes the safety of all students, including student-athletes, seriously. Currently, the college has no information to suggest the identity or association of the person or persons responsible. We are fully cooperating with the investigation of local law enforcement."
