Gun Violence at High School Football Games Persists

While shootings at high school sporting events have historically been rare, gun violence at high school football games appears to be on the rise.

ABC News reports that shootings have taken place at high school and youth football games across the nation for five straight weeks.

A 15-year-old and a 14-year-old were shot last Friday during a game at Philadelphia's Simon Gratz High School. The incident comes a week after shots were fired during a youth football game in Fort Worth, Texas, on Sept. 14, leaving two people injured.

Related: How to Implement Access Control at a High School Stadium

Shootings also took place at high school games in Virginia, Pittsburgh, as well as at Morrisville High School in Pennsylvania. 

On Aug. 31, police said 10 people were shot following a high school football game in Mobile, Alabama. The victims in the shooting ranged in age from 15 to 18. They were rushed to area hospitals, officials said.

A week before the shooting in Mobiile, on Aug. 24, police responded to reports of a gunshot during a football game at Parkway North High School near St. Louis.

The increase in violence at high school games hasn’t gone unnoticed, as some high schools are installing metal detectors.

Horlick High School in Racine, Wis., recently installed detectors at its facility. The game last Friday at Horlick was the first game that Racine Unified School District used the metal detectors, and reportedly went off without a hitch.  

“This is the norm around the nation for sporting events,” Horlick athletic director Joe Wendt told The Journal Times.” “It costs a little bit on event management, but nothing that’s going to break our budget.”

Wendt said Racine was able to purchase eight detectors a little over a year ago with around $32,000 that was part of a federal school safety grant.