Shots fired before a high school football game cause injuries and lead to the evacuation of the stadium

CINCINNATI (AP) — Authorities say an Ohio student-athlete was wounded in a shooting outside a stadium hosting a high school football game, the second incident of a shooting near the stadium this month.

North College Hill police said the shooting occurred around 8:15 p.m. Friday in the elementary school parking lot during the game between the North College Hill and Woodward high school teams. Police said school administrators and police immediately began evacuating the stadium and police were working to “secure the scene.”

Principal Sam Yates of Woodward Career Technical High School informed families in an email that a Woodward High School student-athlete had been admitted to a hospital for treatment.

North College Hill Principal Eugene Blalock Jr. said in a social media post that he was “disheartened” by what happened and feared that “the emotional scars and trauma will last a long time.”

“I feel absolutely helpless, but I recognize that we cannot control the actions of those who consciously choose to engage in harmful behavior,” he said.

Shots were also fired near the stadium during a game against Cincinnati Country Day on September 6. No one was injured. Blalock said this will be the last game this season to be played at the stadium.

“I live in North College Hill,” he told the (Cincinnati) Enquirer. “It's a great community, but there are way too many guns on the streets here.”

A Cincinnati Public Schools spokesperson said a crisis response team will be “on site to assist students as they return to school on Tuesday.”