LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — In a weekend kicked off by sports and community events, multiple football games across the Atlanta metro area were interrupted by a variety of situations.
Two were shootings, the other was what witnesses described as a frantic crowd, and the cause isn’t yet clear.
There was a lot to unpack. There were three incidents. In Clayton County an 18-year-old was shot in the parking lot of Tara Stadium, this was ‘after’ the football game was over.
The separate events prompted school districts to address safety concerns and planning, though not all of the events were confirmed to stem from weapons.
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In Lawrenceville, students at a Friday night game were just in a bad spot. High school senior Kaleb Ford says a Friday night football game turned out to be the wrong place at the wrong time.
“I was in the stands. Then both sides of the stadium kind of started running down. I’m like, I should probably get out of the stands and go on the field so I don’t get trampled. A lot of people got trampled,” Ford said.
It was at the tail end of halftime at Discovery High School in Lawrenceville, where Discovery was up against their rival from across town, Central Gwinnett High School.
Ford got video of the crowd racing out of the stands toward the end of the game.
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In a statement sent to parents, Discovery Principal Marci Sledge described it as a massive group of students that caused panic by rushing toward the exits.
The principal says it created a stampede of people trying to get through the gates or over stadium fences.
Despite the rumors on social media, Sledge said there was no gunfire at the school, but several fights did reportedly break out in the parking lot.
Police are investigating whether any students intentionally caused it all by rushing out in large groups. Administrators say while rumors were spreading online about gunfire on the campus, that never happened.
Ford says he identified the safest spot and went there.
“I went on the field and try to get away from all the chaos and havoc. It’s where I felt safest. I got on the field and started recording and everyone was just sprinting and running. There were no actual gunshots that got shot off. After all the havoc, up there toward the front of the school there were fights breaking out and crowds forming. It was pretty crazy at the end too,” Ford said.
Discovery’s principal says they’re looking at ways to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
Separate from the Discovery High incident, Acworth police responded to a shooting call shortly before 11 p.m. on Friday across from North Cobb High School.
Police said a victim was shot in a business parking lot across the street, and then walked over to the school where police and emergency responders picked them up. The victim in Cobb was shot in the leg, with non-fatal injuries.
It’s unclear what the motive was, or if anyone had been taken into custody.
At another football game, this time in Jonesboro, a senior at Dutchtown High School was reportedly shot while in the parking lot at Hines Ward Field.
Clayton County Public Schools confirmed the shooting, saying the senior was shot while attending the Jonesboro High School football game against Mt. Zion High School.
The victim had non-fatal injuries according to a statement from the school district, and investigators said the incident was from an attempted robbery. Still, Clayton County Public Schools added stronger security measures after the incident to ensure the safety of their staff and students, including extra security personnel and assistance from multiple law enforcement agencies.
“The School District will also continue using weapon-detection devices and only allow clear bags/purses at its games. These measures are developed to keep staff and students safe inside of the game,” the district said in a statement, adding that they “will continue to restructure to provide greater vigilance and safety precautions as it continues to confront the increase in violence among our youth in our nation. Moving forward, all games with fairly large crowds will now have adjusted start times. The district will provide additional updates as changes are made.”
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