What began as a celebratory homecoming football game for Eden Prairie High School quickly turned into chaos. The matchup against Minnetonka took a frightening turn as a shooting near the stadium forced players and fans to evacuate.
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The incident took place during the second half of the game on Friday night, October 2. It started as just a mere ‘disturbance’ outside the stadium. However, it later turned into gunshots, which were fired on the north side of Aerie Stadium. The police were seen responding at the scene and ordered an immediate evacuation of the stadium.
At approximately 8:45 p.m., a live broadcast of the game showed fans and players fleeing the field in a panic, as reported by Kare 11, which was at the stadium covering the game. A stadium announcer immediately took to the loudspeaker and ordered all spectators to leave the area. It was a state of total confusion, with hundreds of students at the game.
The school administrators sent out emergency alerts to parents and posted live updates on the high school’s Facebook page. They directed fleeing families, staff, and students to immediate pickup zones at the adjacent baseball diamonds or Round Lake Park.
As the evacuation progressed, school officials directed football players, marching band members, and any incoming students to gather safely at the park pavilion located just south of the tennis courts at Round Lake Park. The evacuation of Aerie Stadium was completed in under an hour with zero additional injuries.
Two victims were injured in this shooting and were taken directly to Hennepin Healthcare. Luckily, the injuries were non-life-threatening, and both victims are doing well. The police confirmed that the victims were not the students of the school, and the shooting was most likely a targeted crime. As of now, nobody has been arrested by the authorities.
An eyewitness told the Star Tribune that they saw people fighting outside the stadium before the shooting. Minutes later, they heard the evacuation announcement from the announcer.
“We all started running. I see people falling,” Kenneth Menniboe, a 9th-grader at the school, told the Star Tribune. “Now it’s like I don’t want to go to football games anymore.” Jonathan Osters, whose son is on the school practice team, praised the authorities for how they handled the incident, including the communications from the school district.
“Tonight was a hard night for our community. A night that was meant to celebrate all that makes us Eagles was tarnished by the selfish and violent acts of a few. And yet, in this moment, we saw our community shine,” Eden Prairie Schools’ superintendent Josh Swanson’s statement read.
“Our community took care of one another and our visitors, leading to an evacuation with zero injuries that was almost entirely complete within an hour. This is what it means to be an Eagle, and I could not be more proud.”
The game will resume on Monday
While the game had to be called off during the incident, it is scheduled to resume on Monday, October 5. However, the exact kickoff time has not yet been officially announced by the school district. The game will pick back up early in the fourth quarter, with Eden Prairie holding a 21-14 lead over Minnetonka. The clock stopped at 11:45, so it would be a short game.
The game will resume, but the same can’t be said for the high school homecoming dance. It was scheduled to take place on Saturday night, October 3. However, the school district officially canceled it after the incident.
“Due to last night’s tragic and unfortunate event, we will not be holding our Homecoming Dance this evening,” Eden Prairie’s principal, Dr. Jaysen Anderson, posted on Facebook. “We believe we would have the planning, resources, and support to make tonight’s event safe and enjoyable. However, holding a dance less than 24 hours after a trauma in our community feels out of place.”
“Too many students, staff, and families were directly impacted. We need to be prepared to adequately support all students and staff when they return to the building on Monday. I will share more about what that looks like tomorrow (Sunday) by 9 p.m.”