SAN JOSE, Calif. — A 16-year-old Vancouver Canucks fan, who had brain surgery four years ago, suffered a concussion when a San Jose Sharks fan hit her in the head during Wednesday night’s game at San Jose’s HP Pavilion.
Maggie Herger, who had surgery four years ago in her native Canada to remove a brain tumor, said she and her 18-year-old sister were being harassed during the game by a drunken female Sharks fan who looked to be aged in her 40s, the San Jose Mercury News reported.
They said the woman was so drunk she had fallen down in the aisle, and had been bumping the girls and cursing at them during the game.
When the Sharks scored a second-period goal during the Canucks’ eventual 3-2 overtime victory, Herger said the woman jumped up to celebrate behind her and deliberately smacked her in the back of the head “really hard” with both hands.
Herger was taken to a hospital and diagnosed with a concussion.
The Sharks said in a statement released Thursday night that arena staff, along with the San Jose police, interviewed the person who made contact with Herger, “who stated that the contact was accidental during the celebration of a Sharks goal.”
Police were investigating the incident, but have made no arrests, the Mercury News reported.
It is the latest instance of violence to occur this year at a California sporting event. In March, Giants fan Bryan Stow was beaten into a coma by two Dodgers fans after the Opening Day game outside Dodger Stadium.
Violence also broke out at the August preseason game in San Francisco between the 49ers and Raiders. Two fans were wounded in a shooting after the game in the parking lot, while another fan was beaten unconscious in a stadium restroom.