Gunshots ring out during high school football homecoming game, Minnesota video shows

High school football players sprinted off the field after gunshots were heard during their homecoming game on Friday, Sept. 23, video from Minnesota shows.

Two people were injured in the shooting, which took place outside Richfield High School near Minneapolis, according to the Richfield Police Department.

The chaotic scene was shown in the livestream of the game. Richfield High School was hosting Kennedy High School, and there was 11:15 left in the game when multiple gunshots were heard.

Players from both teams sprinted to the far side of the field, which Bring Me The News reported was the opposite direction from where the shooting took place.

“What was supposed to be a weekend of celebration and school pride is now a time when we must come together in support and solidarity,” school principal Stacy Theien-Collins said in a statement.

School officials had turned away several people from entry to the game, and the shooting took place in an area where they had gathered outside the stadium, the police department said. A 21-year-old man and 18-year-old man suffered non-life-threatening gunshot wounds and were recovering at their homes, according to police.

On Sunday, Sept. 25, the police department announced the arrests of two juveniles. A 16-year-old former Richfield High School student is accused of instigating the altercation, and a 15-year-old current student allegedly fired the shots, police said.

School district officials said it was “devastating” a current student was involved in the shooting.

“Our team took every precaution Friday night to ensure student and fan safety inside the stadium, including separate parking, separate entrances, strict admittance protocols, increased staff presence, increased security and a police presence,” the school district said in a statement on Sunday, Sept. 25.

The weekend’s homecoming dance was canceled after the shooting, Theien-Collins announced. The decision to cancel the event was made “to help ensure student safety and to allow us all a little room to breathe, reflect and heal,” the principal said in a statement.

Liv Loftsgaarden, the senior class president, told WCCO it felt “unfair” for the dance to be canceled due to the isolated event.

“When I went (to the school on Saturday), I helped take down all the decorations I had put up the night before. It was really hard. It really sucked,” Loftsgaarden told the station.

Monday morning, Sept. 26, the school district received “online threats” to its secondary schools, it said in a Facebook post. Classes at Richfield High School, and other schools in the district, were canceled Monday “due to the timing and the recent events outside our homecoming game.”

This story was originally published September 26, 2022 at 12:14 PM with the headline "Gunshots ring out during high school football homecoming game, Minnesota video shows."