At least 10 teenagers were injured in a shooting at a high school football game in Alabama on Friday night.
Local station WKRG reported that gunfire erupted at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile after a game between Leflore and Williamson high schools had concluded.
Police said the victims in the shooting ranged in age from 15 to 18 and were taken to local hospitals for medical treatment. Five teens are in critical condition.
Authorities confirmed on Saturday that 17-year-old Deangelo Parnell has been arrested in connection with the shooting. He is charged with nine counts of attempted murder, according to a representative for the Mobile Police Department.
Police are interviewing witnesses in an ongoing investigation into the shooting.
Witnesses said that a fight happened in the stands just before the game ended, but it has not been confirmed if the fight and the shooting are connected.
“Why are the young people bringing this type of violence to public events? They’re bringing their beefs that they have with each other in their neighborhoods, and they’re putting other people in harm’s way,” Mobile Police Chief Lawrence Battiste said to reporters. “This is unacceptable for people to not to be able to come out and enjoy an event.”
Battiste also said that parents who cannot locate their children who were at the game should call area hospitals, and he vowed that the suspect would be prosecuted.
