ST. ANN, Mo. – Hundreds of students and families were sent running Friday night when they thought they heard gunshots.
The Maryland Heights Police Department dispelled any of those rumors following an investigation, and it was determined folks started running because they saw everyone else running.
“When you see a group of kids running, dispersing from an area, and you are in the stands, you think, ‘Okay, what’s wrong? What are those kids running from?’” Pattonville School District Superintendent Barry Nelson said.
On Tuesday, Pattonville School District announced it would upgrade its Friday night safety protocols by first taking a closer look at how its security is positioned inside the football stadium. The school district is also adding floodlighting in the parking lot and moving the stadium’s security checkpoint in front of the ticketing area.
“What happened on Friday scared a lot of kids and we need to make adjustments based on that situation,” Nelson told FOX 2 Tuesday.
According to Nelson, Friday night’s game was one of the school’s most secure, with 10 police officers from the Maryland Heights and St. Ann departments, six private security guards, and 15 school administrators from Pattonville and Ritenour high schools.
“As a district, we are going to do everything it takes to make sure our kids and our community have a safe experience,” Nelson said.
The game was called off with eight minutes left in the third quarter. Both schools are working together to determine if the game should be rescheduled or if the final score of 26-20 with Pattonville leading should stand as the final score.