The Palm Beach County school district is planning changes for upcoming football games after two people were shot during a pre-season match late Friday night.
Some football games will be played on Saturday mornings, and remaining Friday games will start an hour earlier, at 6 p.m., as a result of the shooting during the Palm Beach Central High School game against William T. Dwyer High School. Also, from now on, only clear bags will be allowed at games, and there will be no re-entry allowed if people leave the stadium during a game.
The two adults who were shot are in stable condition. They have not yet been formally identified by law enforcement; the Palm Beach Post has reported one is Daniel Foster Sr., the father of a Dwyer linebacker. There are two suspects, but no arrests have been made.
The shooting came at the end of Palm Beach County schools’ first week of a classes and as there has been an increased focus on school security. A new state law passed in response to the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School requires a cop or armed guard on every school campus.
Local law enforcement in Palm Beach County aren’tcalling what happened on Friday night a “school shooting.”
Sheriff Ric Bradshaw says it was “specific, targeted” violence that could have happened anywhere. Police believe two suspected shooters knew their intended victims would be at the football game.
“The bad guys in this were not there to shoot students. They were not there to go in and randomly kill a bunch of people,” Bradshaw said at a news conference on Saturday. “They know who they were looking for. They just happened to be able to find them on the perimeter of that football game.”
Officials stressed it was safe to send students to school on Monday. Counselors are available to students at all schools, according to a district spokeswoman.
Click here for full coverage from the Palm Beach Post.
