The high school football game between O’Bannon High School and Leland High School ended prematurely in the third quarter Friday night at O’Bannon High School after shots were heard coming from outside of the stadium.
Leland head coach Johnny Bley described the incident as pure chaos. While fans in the stadium scattered to find cover, Bley and his players and coaches lied down on the field and waited for the shooting to end.
Bley said he believes no one was shot in the incident; however, members of the Leland dance team were taken to the hospital with heat exhaustion.
“The shooting started with about 20 to 30 shots that went on for like two minutes. They appeared to be coming from the parking lot or Reed Road outside of the campus. At first, everyone scattered and we hit the ground. After another 30 seconds and another round of fire, we made our way behind a concrete building. We waited behind the building for 20 or 30 minutes before we got the clear it was safe,” Bley said.
Bley said another scary incident happened for his team on the bus back to Leland when he heard from law enforcement officers that a group of four young men were waiting for his team with guns outside of Leland High School.
“When they saw the officers, these guys shot their guns in the air and got back in the car and drove away.”
“During the whole time I was trying to stay calm and make sure the kids were ok.”
O’Bannon was leading the game 13-6 when the shootings occurred at the 3-minute mark of the third quarter.
Bley said his team has no intention of resuming the game.
