ST. LOUIS — The youth football coach shot four times by a player’s parent at a practice this week said the gunman was angry because his son wasn’t getting more playing time, the coach told the Post-Dispatch.
Shaquille Latimore, 30, was shot and critically injured just after 7 p.m. Tuesday at Sherman Park in the 1500 block of North Kingshighway. Latimore has undergone surgery and was in good spirits in his recovery when he talked to a reporter from his hospital bed Thursday.
“I’m going to be okay,” he said. “It’s more psychological than anything else.”
The 43-year-old suspected gunman, Daryl Clemmons, surrendered at the North Patrol police station, and prosecutors on Wednesday charged Clemmons with first-degree assault and armed criminal action. Clemmons was held without bond Thursday.
Daryl Clemmons
Mugshot via St. Louis police
Clemmons shot Latimore for not giving Clemmons’ son a starting position, according to court documents. The shooting happened after a weeks-long feud that began when Clemmons confronted Latimore over his son’s playing time.
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Latimore, a former football player at Vashon High School, volunteers as a coach for the “St. Louis BadBoyz,” a city rec league team primarily of 9- and 10-year-olds. He is an assistant coach and defensive coordinator. He coaches with his cousin.
At Tuesday’s practice, Latimore came armed with his own gun — it’s an unsafe neighborhood, he said, and he likes to have it for self-defense. But he handed his gun off to another adult before practice began.
“I gave my gun to someone else to hold. I didn’t want him (Clemmons) to feel threatened,” Latimore said.
Latimore said Clemmons had his back turned and kept reaching into a pocket of his sweatsuit.
“I didn’t see his gun until it was already too late,” Latimore said. “I ran, and he shot me in the back. I fell and he shot me a couple more times.”
“I heard people running and screaming,” Latimore said.
Children witnessed the confrontation and shooting but were uninjured. Latimore takes his own children to practices from time to time but they weren’t in attendance the day he was shot.
Clemmons stood over the bleeding coach, taunting him, then paced back and forth, Latimore said.
“After he shot me, was like … ‘I told you I was going to pop your (expletive),'” Latimore said.
Latimore said some of the other adults “shielded” him and Clemmons ran off.
Latimore said Clemmons used to coach the team a few years ago, before Latimore joined as coach.
“After every game, he would try to critique me,” Latimore said Thursday.
Latimore said most parents treat the coaches well, but some, like Clemmons, can ruin kids’ sports.
“Some parents try to live through their kids,” he said.
Shaquille Latimore talks to his players, in a photo Latimore posted on social media in September 2023.
Photo via Latimore family
And if Latimore hadn’t handed off his own gun before the practice: “I would’ve defended myself,” Latimore said.
Clemmons lives in the 2100 block of Kingsland Avenue in Pagedale. He did not have an attorney listed in court files, and his family could not be reached for comment.
Latimore’s mother SeMiko Latimore said she was familiar with the gunman from his antics at previous practices. “He was a little ‘extra,'” she said. “You always knew he was there.”
“Shaquille is one of those fair coaches, so he tries to rotate all of the kids in,” she said. “The parent was a little unhappy … and wanted his kid to do more than someone else and was upset the way things were being done.”
Latimore is married and the father of two daughters and three sons. He works in a factory. In a photo his mother posted on Facebook, he is shown flashing a thumbs up from his hospital bed. He was shot in the leg, arm, back and abdomen; bullets injured some of his internal organs.
“He’s thankful to be alive,” his mother said. “He’s a little teary eyed of course, but he is in good spirits.”
He was slated to take a first walk in the hospital on Thursday, she said.
Latimore coaches for the same youth league he once played for.
“It’s his life. He lives, eats, sleeps football,” his mother said. He played championship flag football until injuring his hip in a vehicle crash a few years ago.
He helped investigators from his hospital room by identifying the gunman from a photo lineup, Latimore’s mother said.
“It’s senseless,” she said of the shooting. “We’re supposed to be bringing these kids off the streets and teaching them what to do, what not to do. We’ve got all these kids traumatized because their coach was shot in front of them.
“He could have easily hit one of those children,” she said.
Shaquille Latimore showing off his championship belt that his flag football team won in 2021.
Family photo
One of SeMiko Latimore’s other sons, Antonio Green, 24, was shot to death in April 2021 in the Spanish Lake area of north St. Louis County.
James Ward, a longtime friend of Latimore, said Latimore played defensive lineman and tight end while attending Vashon High School. He began coaching kids a few years ago. In addition to his factory job, Latimore also works as a security guard at clubs and community events, Ward said.
Ward and Latimore post weekly videos breaking down the week’s recreational flag football games or youth sports. Ward said Latimore is focused on letting all of his players in the game.
“That’s his number one thing, he tries to get everyone playing time,” Ward said. “That’s all he talks about.”
The team is part of the AYF league, with players ranging in age from 5 to 13. The best teams across the country travel to Florida for a championship game.
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2023-10-13 00:25:00
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