XC Runners Allegedly Shot at in Pennypacker Park

Camden County’s high school cross-country championships at Pennypacker Park on the Haddonfield-Cherry Hill border were marred by a bizarre incident Thursday, when an unidentified man allegedly fired a BB gun at runners in the girls varsity race.

At least four runners reported getting hit by the pellets just past the midway point of the girls race, after they made the turn into a section of Pennypacker Park in Haddonfield on the south side of the Cooper River. None reported being seriously hurt.

Several of the runners said they thought someone had been throwing rocks, then realized there was a person with a BB gun in the woods just south of the trail.

Race officials and coaches checked a wooded hillside the marks the border between Pennypacker and the Bancroft property in Haddonfield, but didn’t find the alleged shooter.

Police had been called to the scene, but there was no information immediately available about any investigation into the incident.