Royals-Pirates delayed by armed standoff in parking lot

An armed standoff in the parking lot outside Kauffman Stadium delayed the start of Saturday's game between the Kansas City Royals and Pittsburgh Pirates.

Around 11:30 a.m. CT on Saturday, an armed man fired shots at employees inside Arrowhead Stadium, home of the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs. Arrowhead and Kauffman Stadiums share a parking lot as part of Kansas City's Truman Sports Complex.

No one was hit by the shots, Kansas City Police Department spokesperson Capt. Dave Jackson told Cortlynn Stark of the Kansas City Star.

The standoff between police and the armed man continued for over six hours and briefly put the Royals-Pirates contest in jeopardy. Some Royals players were unable to enter the complex and access the stadium.

"We had some players and coaches that were circling the lot for quite a while," said Royals manager Mike Matheny, who arrived at the ballpark around the same time the standoff began, according to Adam Berry and Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com. "They were blocked off and sent home. They got back and by then they could enter a different way and be escorted in. We had everyone here (by 4 p.m.). After that, it became business as usual for us."

The Pirates, meanwhile, only left their hotel at 4:15 p.m. - less than two hours before the scheduled first pitch - and were unable to take batting practice. As a result, both teams decided to delay the start by 30 minutes to 6:35 p.m.

The unidentified armed man was arrested by police shortly after 6 p.m., according to Stark. While Jackson described the event as a "mental health situation," the man was taken to jail.