SOUTHWEST PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- With his girlfriend and his lawyer by his side, 26-year-old youth basketball coach Maurice Tavares turned himself in to Southwest Detectives Monday, two days after Philadelphia Police say he fired his weapon at a crowded Christy Recreation Center on South 56th Street.
When Action News asked if he had any regrets or anything he wanted to say to the kids, Tavares replied, "Nope."
About 70 people, mostly teenagers, were in the rec center around 1:30 p.m. Saturday playing basketball.
Investigators say at some point Tavares got into an argument with spectators and an opposing coach about the game. The situation got heated, and Tavares pulled out his weapon, firing once.
"Unfortunately, he doesn't abide by the rules that he should as a coach in reducing conflict. And he creates a conflict, lets it go up a little higher, and then makes a stupid mistake of pulling out a gun," said Lt. John Walker of the Philadelphia Police Department.
No one was injured, but Southwest Detectives charged Tavares with aggravated assault.
Detectives aren't buying the self defense argument. They say Tavares could have called 911 or received help from the police district, which is around the corner.
"We believe he was clearly directing that shot at the coach he was arguing with. So what agitated it to that point was clearly wrong behavior and (a) wrong display in front of these kids," Walker said.
"He reacted this way because 15 to 20 people were approaching him," said Tavares' attorney, Eugene Tinari. "Some of them had their hands inside their hoodies, gesturing as if they had a firearm. Others were calling his name, cursing at him."
Tinari says his client fired that shot in the air from a gun he was legally carrying.
And he had it because the Chester, Delaware County man was unfamiliar with the rec center, Tinari said, adding that just a couple of years ago, Tavares was shot in the leg while he was coaching a game in Philadelphia.
"He's upset, he's scared," said Tinari. "But by all accounts from the people we've interviewed, what he did that day was completely within the bounds of the law."
Action News is told Tavares is a father of three small children. He works for a daycare center, and he has no criminal history.