LAFAYETTE -- Four Indiana State Police cars converged on a park in Lafayette, but only to answer a basketball challenge from some kids.
The troopers were finishing a traffic stop when, according to Journal & Courier columnist Dave Bangert, some kids showed up, asking questions about police equipment. Trooper David Vido says one of the kids, maybe 5 or 6-years-old, had a basketball and challenged Vido to a game of one-on-one.
It soon turned into four-on-four at Linwood Park nearby. Kristen Pearl, who lives in West Lafayette, posted video of the game to Facebook, images apparently needed two days after the murders of five police officers by a sniper in Dallas. The video has been watched almost 22,000 times.
Pearl told the paper she was coming into town to visit family and happened to drive by the park as the game took place.
State Troopers have an hour built into their schedules for physical fitness, Vido said it was mere coincidence that all this happened just days after a tragedy that touched police across the country. A happy coincidence shared with a public at a time when it was needed.
