Police Arrest Three Juveniles on Gun Charges Outside HS Football Game
Andy Berg
8/28/23- Athletic Business
Police in Columbus, Ohio, have confirmed that three juveniles were arrested for brandishing guns outside a football game Friday between Carver and Spencer High Schools.
Two 15-year-olds and one 16-year-old were arrested outside A.J. McClung Stadium on weapons charges. The teens’ names are not being released due to their age.
According to the local CBS affiliate, three guns, including one that was reported stolen, were confiscated.
Two of the teenagers were taken into custody when they were seen brandishing the guns, according to police.
The incident reportedly started a fight inside the stadium at the end of the third quarter, which created a panic that spread outside the stadium, and the game was halter and not finished as a result.
There were unsubstantiated reports that shots were fired outside the stadium, but police have since confirmed that was not the case, and no injuries were reported.
The Muscogee School District released the following statement:
“The Columbus Police Department and Muscogee County School District Police are currently investigating the situation at the Heritage Bowl between Carver and Spencer High Schools. The football game ended early due to fights. The altercation spilled over to the parking lot, where authorities received unsubstantiated reports of shots being fired away from the stadium. Our primary concern is to ensure the safety of everyone involved and gather information about the incident.”
https://www.athleticbusiness.com/operations/safety-security/article/15545897/police-arrest-three-juveniles-on-gun-charges-outside-hs-football-game?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ATHLCD230828002&utm_term=&oly_enc_id=0795F0391467A9T
One Dead, Four Injured in Shooting at High School Football Game
Andy Berg
8/28/23 Athletic Business
A 16-year-old boy is dead after a shooting at an Oklahoma high school football game on Friday.
According to NBC News, gunshots erupted from the visitor side of the stadium at Choctaw High School during the third quarter of a game against Del City High School.
Police said the incident began with an argument between at least two men in the stands.
A 16-year-old who was not a student at Choctaw was shot in the groin area. He was taken to the hospital where he died of his injuries. Four other people sustained injuries, including a 42-year-old man who was shot in the chest. The man is the ICU and in stable condition.
A girl was shot in her thigh but was treated at the hospital and released. Two other girls suffered injuries while trying to flee the area. One had a broken wrist and the other had a broken leg.
A police officer with the Choctaw Police Department reportedly discharged his firearm at the scene, which the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office is investigation. The Choctaw Police Department had five officers at the game for security purposes, as well as two Del City police officers.
Two guns and eight rounds were recovered from the scene.
In a joint statement, Choctaw-Nicoma Park Schools Superintendent David Reid and Mid-Del Schools Superintendent Rick Cobb said both districts are working with police.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to all affected by tonight’s incident,” Reid and Cobb said in the statement released on Friday.
An investigation into the matter is ongoing.
https://www.athleticbusiness.com/operations/safety-security/article/15545894/one-dead-four-injured-in-shooting-at-high-school-football-game?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ATHLCD230828002&utm_term=&oly_enc_id=0795F0391467A9T
District Ups Security Measures After Teen Brings ‘Ghost Gun’ to HS Football Game
Andy Berg
8/28/23
The Cheltenham (Pa.) School District is implementing new security measures this week after a student allegedly brought a loaded gun to a high school football in Abington Township.
According to the local NBC affiliate, the incident occurred Friday, Aug. 25, shortly before 8:30 p.m. during a football game between Abington and Cheltenham High Schools at the Abington High School stadium.
A parent reported to police that they had seen a teen with a weapon inside the stadium. Responding officers spotted the 17-year-old boy wearing a surgical mask and sitting int he back corner of the stadium with another teen.
The boy was found to have a loaded handgun with an extended magazine protruding from his waist. Police also said the teen was in possession of a second loaded magazine.
“I walked up to him, just casually. Just said, ‘Hey, can I talk to you?’ Put my hand on his shoulder,” Abington Police Officer Jordan Jones said. “As soon as I put my hand on his shoulder, he ducked down and reached for his waistband. At which point, me and Officer Marrero grabbed the gentleman that we recovered the weapon from and took him to the ground.”
The teen was taken into custody and escorted out of the stadium without further incident. No injuries were reported but the game was suspended at halftime out of an abundance of caution. Police are still trying to determine a motive for the student bringing the gun to the stadium.
At a press conference, police referred to the gun as a “ghost gun,” or a privately made gun that doesn’t have a serial number.
“This has more rounds than police officers carry on duty. It’s a 30 round, high capacity magazine,” Abington Police Detective Steve Fink said. “It’s with another high capacity magazine. Thirty one rounds with one in the chamber. And, you’ll see here this is a red light laser that was also on the gun.”
- All students must show a valid student ID to enter the game.
- More security staff will be present.
- Police officers will patrol the stadium and parking lot, which will also have more lighting.
- People won’t have access to large open areas where students often congregate.
- No one will be allowed to bring in a backpack or bags to the stadium.
- No one will be allowed to wear a mask that completely covers their face.
Ejected HS Football Fan Found Circling Stadium With Stolen Guns
Fan behavior and stadium security concerns don’t necessarily end with ejection, as evidenced when a man who had been removed from a high school football game in Orlando, Fla., was found circling the stadium with several stolen guns in his car.
As reported by Fox 35 in Orlando, members of the Orlando Police Department were on routine patrol as Jones High School hosted Tampa Jesuit High School faced off in the annual Legacy Classic at Camping World Stadium on Friday night.
Officers witnessed a man who was kicked out of the game get into a car in the parking lot, which was then seen circling the area several times “as if they were looking for someone,” police said.
When officers initiated a traffic stop, six men were inside the car and probable cause was established for a search.
During the search, five guns were recovered — three of them were listed as stolen and one was a “ghost gun,” meaning it had no serial number, police said.
https://www.athleticbusiness.com/operations/safety-security/article/15545646/ejected-hs-football-fan-found-circling-stadium-with-stolen-guns?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ATHLCD230822005&utm_term=&oly_enc_id=0795F0391467A9T
Influencer Kai Cenat charged with inciting a riot after New York City mayhem
Influencer Kai Cenat charged with inciting a riot after New York City mayhem
Reuters
August 5, 2023
Aug 5 (Reuters) – Social media influencer Kai Cenat has been charged with inciting a riot after he announced a giveaway of video game consoles that drew thousands of people to a New York City park on Friday and sparked violent clashes with police.
Sixty-five people were arrested, including 30 juveniles, and several police officers and civilians were injured in the melee at Union Square park, Jeffrey Maddrey, the New York Police Department’s highest-ranking uniformed officer, told a news conference late on Friday.
Some in the crowd threw projectiles at police, climbed onto the roof of a subway entrance and jumped on top of cars.
Cenat, best known for his live streams on the gaming site Twitch and YouTube videos, was also charged with unlawful assembly, Maddrey said.
He said the crowd started to calm down when police officers evacuated Cenat from the park.
In a video posted Thursday, Cenat told his followers that the giveaway would include computers and Playstation 5 consoles.
Cenat, 21, has 6.5 million followers on Twitch and 4 million subscribers on YouTube. He was named “Streamer of the Year” in 2022 at the Streamy Awards.
Reporting by Eric Beech in Washington; Editing by David Gregorio
Houston police releases long-awaited 1,200-page report on Travis Scott Astroworld disaster
July 28, 2023
Houston police releases long-awaited 1,200-page report on Travis Scott Astroworld disaster
July 28, 2023 2:56 PM PT
The Houston Police Department has released its report into the 2021 Astroworld crowd-crush disaster that left 10 dead and hundreds injured.
The 1,266-page report is the most detailed look yet into the decision-making that allowed the show, headlined and co-promoted by rapper Travis Scott, to continue well after authorities declared a mass casualty event.
In HPD’s interviews with Scott, he told police that he did not recall being given any clear signals to stop his set.
“We asked if he at any point heard the crowd telling him to stop the show,” the report says. “He stated that if he had heard something like that he would have done something. The first time he realized something was wrong or rather that there was a problem was when he was on the lift and he noticed the person down near the stage who then received medical attention.”
“Normally if it was something drastic,” Scott told HPD, “someone would have to come hit the button or pull the plug.”
The report says that several witnesses recalled Scott being told through his in-ear monitors to stop the show, as there were “bodies on the ground.” Others said they alerted his live audio team to tell him stop the show, but were rebuffed.
HPD said that recordings of his in-ear monitor were too muddy to decipher.
In June, a Harris County, Texas, grand jury declined to pursue criminal charges against Scott or any individual in the Astroworld catastrophe. Many civil suits remain against Scott and Live Nation, the show’s promoter.
One significant passage of the HPD report recounts a conversation between an Astroworld security executive, Marty Wallgren, and members of the show’s live audio team. Wallgren recounted trying to alert Scott that they needed to tell him to stop the show, but the audio team allegedly refused.
“Marty stated again that the key rebuttal or argument against shutting down the show at 10 was that Drake still had three more songs or Drake has not yet completed his set. He repeatedly told them that he did not care how many songs Drake had left and that this situation was much bigger than Drake … He stated that both ‘Bizzy’ [audio engineer Bilal Joseph] and the other guy resisted the directions they were given and actively impeded the ability for anyone to stop the show at a time other than the one they desired.”
Houston Police also interviewed Drake, who took the stage during a chaotic portion of the set.
“We asked if he [Drake] ever heard from the crowd to stop the show. He stated that he did not hear that. He explained that the ear piece drowns out a lot of outside sound … I asked him about the message that Travis Scott told us that he received which in summary asked him to end the show after the guest (Drake). He stated that he did not receive that message or was unaware of it.”
The report includes comprehensive interviews with survivors in the immediate aftermath of the event. One witness, Ayden Cruz, recounted the scene in the crowd.
“Ayden reported feeling his feet swept up off the floor and he fell down. Ayden said he felt like he was losing oxygen and he began to yell for help as he fell to the ground. Ayden said he turned to survival mode to get himself out from under people as he was getting stepped on and his feet began to hurt and he had to slip his shoes off to protect his feet from being crushed. Ayden reported he saw Brianna go down towards the ground then he heard her voice yelling ‘I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe!’”
The report also quotes an Astroworld camera operator, who says that a crane operator on site told the show’s production team, “There are dead bodies underneath the crane, people are getting hurt. Shut it down.”
Houston officials have yet to institute any comprehensive regulations around concert safety since the disaster.
The HPD report came on the same day that Scott released “Utopia,” his first LP since his 2018 “Astroworld” album.
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2023-07-28/travis-scott-astroworld-festival-houston-police-report
El Salvador stadium crush leaves at least twelve dead
May 21, 2023
BBC
At least twelve people have died after a crush at a football stadium in El Salvador’s capital, San Salvador, officials have said.
The incident occurred during a match between local team Alianza and the Santa Ana-based team Fas at Cuscatlán Stadium.
The match was subsequently suspended.
President Nayib Bukele described the event as “unprecedented”, and said an “exhaustive investigation” would be launched.
Police had earlier said that seven men and two women were among the dead, with all the victims over the age of 18.
The disaster reportedly occurred after a large number of fans tried to enter the venue after the gates had been closed.
Officials believe some fans had been sold fake tickets, and said that an investigation was under way.
Footage shared by local media appeared to show fans attempting to pull down barricades at the stadium’s entrance.
A livestream of the match posted on YouTube shows the match being suspended after an apparent commotion in the stands. People are later seen being carried away by emergency services on stretchers.
Fans are also seen waving their shirts at people on the ground to try and cool them down.
“It was an avalanche of fans who overran the gate,” a volunteer with the Rescue Commandos first aid group told journalists. “Some were still under the metal in the tunnel. Others managed to make it to the stands and then to the field and were smothered.”
President Bukele said “everyone” will be investigated, including teams, managers, stadium officials, the league and the federation.
“Whoever the culprits are, they will not go unpunished,” he said in comments posted to Twitter by his press secretary.
Officials also said that 90 people were being given medical attention, and that men, women and children had been treated for “multiple traumas”.
Luis Alonso Amaya, from the Civil Protection of El Salvador, said that about 500 people had been given medical treatment, with many transferred to hospital.
Health minister Francisco Alabi said that most of those injured are in a stable condition and that there have been no reports of deaths from hospitals.
The Salvadoran Soccer Federation said that all national level football matches on Sunday would be suspended. It also said it regretted what had happened and voiced support for the victims’ families.
El Salvador’s health minister, Francisco Alabi, tweeted that the government had deployed ambulances from nearby hospitals to the stadium with the injured being sent to different public institutions for treatment.
Mr Alabi also called for the public to cautiously evacuate the area to make it easier for medical teams to carry out care.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-65662194