On Saturday, a security guard was shot in the back of the head while attempting to break up a fight near the end of a high school football game in Utica, New York.
Just after 4 p.m., shots were fired in the parking lot outside Thomas R. Proctor High School, according to the city’s police department. A group of approximately a dozen people were fighting on the pavement when at least two shots were fired, according to graphic video of the incident.
One of the two security guards who had been trying to split the two groups apart can be seen falling to the ground after being struck by one of the bullets. He was rushed to the hospital where he remains in critical condition.
The violent group had been turned away from the varsity game against nearby Binghamton High School by another member of the school’s security force just moments prior to the shooting, according to Utica Police Chief Mark Williams.
The stadium is equipped with metal detectors, but the group was turned away by the guard before he could have been alerted to the firearm.
“He suspected that something wasn’t right with this group and he refused to lead into the stadium,” Williams said.
Police said a lone gunman, who remains at large, is responsible for the shooting. The motive behind the brawl before the shooting is still unknown, but police say it may have been gang related.
The incident in Utica comes just one week after a student was killed and an adult woman was injured when a shooting broke out during halftime at a high school football game in Louisiana. An 18-year-old was arrested for allegedly pulling the trigger, but it is unclear what events led to the crime.
Additionally, last month, a 16-year-old was shot and killed when he was struck by bullets that were fired from the stands of an Oklahoma football game.
Shocking video shows the moment gunfire erupted, sending players and spectators scrambling for safety.
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