A Cook County judge on Friday ordered Chicago White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf to be deposed as part of the lawsuit against the team stemming from the August 2023 shooting in the Rate Field bleachers.
Reinsdorf — who’s in the midst of a deal to sell the team he’s owned for more than 40 years — must give sworn testimony by July 31.
An attorney for the White Sox, Robert Shannon, told Judge Sarah Brunson on Friday that the questions for Reinsdorf will likely center around comments he made to the media in the days after the shooting, as well as the team’s decision to not call off the rest of the game after the shooting occurred.
Much remains unclear about how two women suffered gunshot wounds as they sat in the left field bleachers during the fourth inning of the Aug. 25, 2023 game between the White Sox and then-Oakland Athletics. Despite the shooting, the game continued on, though a post-game concert featuring Vanilla Ice was canceled.
Reinsdorf soon after told reporters that he conferred with officials from the Chicago Police Department, including former interim Superintendent Fred Waller.
“They haven’t come to a final conclusion, but have done a lot of investigation,” Reinsdorf previously said. “We have gathered a lot of facts, and, without getting into the detail because I don’t want to influence the police’s decision, but the fact is based upon the information available to us, I see virtually no possibility that the gunshots came from within the ballpark.”
However, that same week, Waller told reporters:
“We’re dispelling a lot of things … (A shot) coming from outside is something we’ve almost completely dispelled. We’re still looking at every avenue. It’s still under investigation. Something from inside, it could’ve happened that way. We’re looking at every avenue, exploring every lead and everything that we can get.”
A representative for the White Sox didn’t respond to a request for comment Friday.