OKLAHOMA CITY – A teenager has died and two people were wounded in a shooting at a Friday night high school football game in Oklahoma that sent players and officials scrambling off the field and caused panicked spectators to hunker down in the stands, authorities said Saturday. Two other people were injured while fleeing the scene.
The 16-year-old boy died of a wound suffered in the shooting during the third quarter of the Friday night game between Choctaw High School and Del City High School in Choctaw, on the eastern outskirts of Oklahoma City, according to a statement by Choctaw Police Chief Kelly Marshall.
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The boy was not a student of either school, according to Marshall, who did not release the names of any of the victims.
Marshall did not announce any arrests, but said that a person of interest was being sought.
“It is believed an argument started between at least two males which led to the shooting,” Marshall said. “Two guns and eight rounds were recovered at the scene.”
Marshall did not immediately return a phone call for additional comment.
Marshall said a 42-year-old man was hospitalized in stable condition with a gunshot wound to the chest and a “young female” was treated and released for a wound to her thigh. Marshall said two other females suffered broken bones while fleeing the scene.
As gunshots were heard at the stadium, players and officials ran off the field. Other people lay down on the field and in the stands, The Oklahoman reported.
Marshall said seven Choctaw police officers were at the game at the time, including five hired by the Choctaw School District as security and two who had happened to stop at the game.
Two off-duty Del City officers were also at the game with the Del City team for security and one of them fired his weapon, according to Del City Police Chief Loyd Berger.
Gov. Kevin Stitt said in a statement Saturday that he and his wife, Sarah, “are heartbroken over the news of the senseless violence at Choctaw High School.”
“My office is in contact with the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety and Choctaw law enforcement and we’re monitoring the situation,” Stitt said.
Choctaw-Nicoma Park Superintendent David Reid and Mid-Del Superintendent Rick Cobb issued a joint statement offering thoughts and prayers to those affected by the shooting.
“Both districts are working jointly with the police ... in an ongoing investigation,” according to the statement.
Marshall said that Reid and other school district officials were meeting "in order to provide counseling as well as discuss further safety measures for our students and spectators.”