Gunman kills 16-year-old boy at Port Allen High School football game in Louisiana – with 12-year-old child also wounded in shooting in Maryland

Gunfire erupted Friday night at high school football games across the country, killing at least one teen and injuring several others.

A 16-year-old student died in a shooting in Louisiana during the Sugar Cane Classic football game at Port Allen High School.

A woman was also injured in the violence and shot in the arm, authorities said on Saturday.

Police have not made any arrests and investigators are not yet sure why half-time violence erupted in an area adjacent to the stands on a warm late summer evening, Sgt. So said Landon Groger of the West Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office.

A medical helicopter landed on the field at Port Allen High and the two victims were rushed to hospital Friday night, where the teen was pronounced dead, Groger said. The woman’s injuries were not considered life-threatening.

The game was interrupted when stunned spectators made their way to the parking lot, which was filled with emergency vehicles.

“We don’t know what led up to the event and we don’t yet know if it was a targeted shooting or a random shooting,” Groger said on the phone Saturday, adding: “We want to take our time and discuss this from everyone. corners.’

The West Baton Rouge school board said crisis teams will be available to talk to and assist students when classes resume after Labor Day weekend.

“Our first priorities at this time are assisting the deceased student’s family, and all of our students, and assisting the West Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office in its investigation,” the board said in a statement Saturday.

School safety would be increased, and Superintendent Chandler Smith said the district will strengthen existing programs “to teach our students that violence destroys many people’s lives.”

Across the country in Baltimore, Maryland, another shooting occurred Friday night during a football game at Dunbar High School.

There were scenes of chaos as you saw panicked players and spectators run away from the stands and across the football pitch as several shots rang out.

Some players lay down on the field, while others started running for the exits.

Fans ducked into the stands or took shelter in a concession stand.

Police say a 12-year-old was shot and taken to a hospital with what are believed to be non-life-threatening injuries.

A teenager with a gun was chased by several police officers, but he escaped. The police are still looking for the suspect.

“I saw a young man with a gun running next to the bus. He had his gun in his hand. As I drew my gun to prevent him from firing, he ran out into the street between the cars,” Detective Hector Rosado told reporters. WBAL.

“There are children here, there is someone’s child and I don’t want anyone having to bury their child,” he said.

“We were in the middle of the game, great atmosphere, the first night of the season and we heard gunshots and everyone started running and the players got on the field and everyone started running on the field,” Lawrence Smith, Principal of Dunbar High School football coach, told WMA.

“Our kids, their kids, have all worked hard to have such a great opening game. It had nothing to do with the stadium; it was outside. It’s just a shame to know that our kids have to deal with this while they work so hard to have a great opening and a great atmosphere like this.

“It’s sad that this game has to get black eyes (shoot) because of that, because no one will talk about the game. Everything will be about a shootout during the game,” Smith said The Baltimore sun.

The city’s mayor later clarified that the shooting happened close to the stadium and not actually during the game itself.

“This wasn’t in the Dunbar football game, it wasn’t associated with people in this game. It’s unfortunate that students from both Dunbar and Loyola and their families and everyone here had to go through this, and that this young man was shot because someone decided to shoot at a group of people,” Mayor Brandon Scott said Saturday.

“One of the things I want to ask everyone who’s older, especially our young teens, is to see what they’ve got. Check their room,’ Scott said.

“We see far too many incidents of violence among our young people and we are tired of arresting them. We’re tired of seeing them shot down.”

In the Midwest, Chicago police said two teens were also injured around 10:15 p.m. Friday night, just as a high school football game had ended near Mount Carmel High.

A 15-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl were injured in that incident. A teenage boy was hit in the stomach and was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital in critical condition.

A teenage girl was hit in the foot and was taken to the same hospital in good condition.

Gunfire erupted without warning in Woodlawn just after a football game at the school ended.

Rosiland Martin said it was a chaotic scene when she picked up her neighborhood niece just minutes after gunshots rang out, injuring a 15-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl.

“She was hysterical,” Rosiland Martin said ABC7. “She said they were shooting, and just to run into them on the corner because there were people everywhere trying to get away from the shots that were being fired.”

“The entire Chicago Public Schools family wishes the victims of this incident a speedy and full recovery. Our thoughts are with these young people, their families and everyone affected by this incident,” the school district said in a statement.

No one is in custody and no arrests have been made in Friday night’s shooting as detectives continue to investigate.

“Today we pray for the full recovery of the two young visitors to our campus who were injured last night, and tomorrow we continue our efforts to make Chicago a better place to live and grow up as a young man,” says Brendan Conroy, the president of Mount Carmel High School, said in a statement following the shooting.