A retired Tulsa Public Schools athletic director is looking back and sharing his perspective after a deadly shooting at McLain High School's football stadium last week.
As reported by News On 6 in Tulsa, 17-year-old student Terron Yarbrough was shot and killed at a McLain High School football game Friday.
Police say Yarbrough was pronounced dead on the scene, and another student was taken to the hospital in critical condition. On Monday, the Tulsa Police Department reported that two additional shooting victims had been discovered. Detectives said a 20-year-old woman and a 9-year-old girl were shot and taken to the hospital where they were treated and released.
Police had not released an identity for the shooter as of Monday. Classes at McLain were suspended Monday and Tuesday.
Gil Cloud retired after 10 years as TPS athletic director last summer, according to News On 6,. Prior to that, he enjoyed a decades-long career as an AD and coach at the college and grade-school levels.
He said the district worked closely with the TPD ahead of games.
"Our chief of campus police, we always visited with him about any intel that they had from TPD that could be gang-related or a feud between two families, or whatever, that we would need to know on the night of a contest,” Cloud said.
Over the years, Cloud said TPS has taken different measures to beef up security at all games. He said principals and ADs at each school can always request more security officers.
"A few years ago, we added a surcharge to the ticket price for additional security. One dollar. So instead of being $6, it's $7. And that one dollar goes into the security fund,” Cloud said.
Cloud recalls another football game shooting at McLain in 2016, when one person was injured, but said safety concerns at McLain date back decades.
"Back in the '80s, when I was at Union, McLain had to play their basketball games on Saturday afternoons and with no fans," Cloud told News On 6. "Just the two teams would play and that was it, because there had been some problems there."
While TPS announced Tuesday some football games could now fall on Saturdays, the district didn't go as far as to not allow fans.
"That's pretty much at the top of the list really to not do, for the sake of the kids," Cloud said. "But you have all those alternatives on the table."
TPS said the game last Friday at McLain started with three security officers. After another game being played elsewhere ended, three more officers headed to McLain to help with security.
