MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — A 17-year-old student was arrested Saturday in connection with a shooting that happened at a high school football game in Alabama, leaving at least 10 people injured.
Mobile Police Chief Lawrence Battiste tells news outlets that six people were directly shot Friday and one person had a seizure shortly after the shooting at Ladd-Peebles Stadium, a city-owned venue hosting a game between LeFlore High School and Williamson High School.
In a post on Twitter, police said authorities arrested a male teenager on nine counts of attempted murder. News outlets report the teenager surrendered Saturday morning. It was unknown if the suspect has an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
Battiste said the shooting stemmed from a fight, and the suspect pulled a gun and started “indiscriminately shooting.”
“This is a cowardly act by an individual who didn’t know how to deal with a situation,” Battiste said.
“It’s not acceptable in our community, we won’t tolerate it,” he said. “We’re going to ask that the community help us by identifying those individuals that they know that bring this type of foolishness out to these type of events.”
Some of the victims have been released from the hospital, but it is not clear how many.
“Our children and their families deserve to enjoy a high school football game or any public event without the thought of gun violence. As a community, we will heal. As a community, we have to get the guns out of the hands of our youth,” Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson said in a statement.
Investigators have reviewed surveillance video, which clearly shows the 17-year-old suspect firing the shots, Battiste said.
Police believe the teenager was the only shooter, but the police chief said investigators also believe there are adults who knew something would be happening at the game and urged them to come forward with information.
The shooting remains under investigation.