JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Duval County Public Schools district police are working on plans to keep families safe at district football games. This comes after a shooting outside First Coast High School Friday night when crowds were leaving a game.
First Coast High School football coach and founder of a local youth non-profit, Benjamin Ballard, was at the football game Friday night, when a fight nearby caused officials to end the game early.
Then as the crowd left, police say a 15-year-old began shooting into the crowd. Police ended up shooting the teen who was later arrested once released from the hospital.
Friday's shooting followed a shooting near a youth football practice in Brentwood and a police-involved incident in the area of a Sandalwood High School youth jamboree.
“People were super excited about this rivalry coming back and to see it end because of some others that were not a part of either school was sad," Benjamin Ballard, founder of the Taylor Belle Foundation, said.
Duval County Public Schools Police Chief Gregory Burton says additional security measures were already in place due information they received from the community about potential violence at the game, including digital weapons sensors, gun and drug detection k-9s and JSO officers.
He says these measures will be added to future games if needed.
“We do have security plans in place for every game and we adjust that based on the information we receive, and those plans are actually very robust for every game. If we receive additional information, we will act on that and have additional measures put in place," Chief Burton said.
Ballard says he feels safe with the security measures taken by the district and is not worried about attending future games, but he believes parents and guardians must help prevent violence.
“Our youth needs to be guided, that’s the system of how we’re going to change anything, we have to educate them and we have to guide them, show them by example as well," Ballard said.
Chief Burton wants students and parents to know that they are doing everything in their power make sporting events safe, and he believes information received from the community will help to prevent a violence.
“If you see something say something, both students and parents, and guardians. Information is the first line of defense to," Chief Burton, said. "We have a tactical action plan, called a TAP, for every game if we received additional information, we will add additional security measures. We are evaluating every single game every time.”