Ohio high school football game ends in gunfire, tragedy

A high school football game in Ohio was suspended after gunfire erupted outside the stadium. There were three victims, according to reports.

The incident occurred during the fourth quarter of the Central Catholic vs. Whitmer game in Toledo, Ohio Friday night. At least one woman was shot, according to WTOL-TV’s Tyler Seggerman, and it was confirmed two others were involved, as well. Central Catholic had a 46-16 lead with 7:09 to play when people went running.

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It’s unclear the extent of the victims’ injuries, police said. A witness told WTOL they heard what sounded like fireworks as people sought cover. The game, as a result, ended at that point with a Central Catholic victory as police worked to investigate, according to The Toledo Blade.

Washington Local Schools superintendent Kadee Anstadt released a statement after the incident, expressing her sadness about the shooting during a rivalry matchup between the two schools.

“We are deeply saddened that a fun rivalry tonight was disrupted by an act of violence in the streets surrounding our event. What we know at this time is limited, and we will not speculate until further details are known. An event like this is every school district’s worst nightmare, and we ask that you keep both Central and Whitmer in your thoughts as we attempt to figure out this atrocious act,” Anstadt said.

Central Catholic coach Greg Dempsey described the scene in an interview with The Blade and his mentality as the situation unfolded.

“When it happened, you’re just worried about getting to the kids,” Dempsey said. “You don’t know what’s going on. Especially when you’re wearing a headset, you’re not even hearing anything. Getting everybody off to safety, it was great to see how everybody went into action. The people here at Whitmer did a great job of enacting their plan and going and taking action.

“Then, you start worrying about people in the crowd because that’s where you see the stampedes happen and other types of injuries happen as a result. That’s what I was looking for a lot in the crowd. I ran off first and then I turned around and went back and started looking for people, especially at the far end of the bleachers. … Just horrible.”