Two teenagers were arrested Friday night and a football game was canceled at Gene Cox Stadium as panicked crowds ran out of the stadium.
An 18-year-old Leon County student was arrested on charges of public affray, and a 15-year-old Success Academy student was arrested on unknown charges.
Leon head coach Tyrone McGriff said multiple fights broke out in the stands, which eventually spilled into the parking lot of the stadium during a preseason football game between Leon High School and Rickards High School.
A Leon County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson confirmed that Leon County School’s resources deputies were the first to respond to the incident and tried to break up the large group of students.
A rumor of a weapon involved “caused panic” inside the stadium and fans began to run out into the parking lot, an LCSO spokesperson said. No shots were fired.
As a result of the incident, a school district official informed both Leon and Rickards that the game was canceled.
But the panic extended far beyond the stadium. One parent posted to a local Facebook Mom’s group saying “Get your kids out of gene cox ASAP.” She later described the “chaos,” noting “there were children scattered all over the place and emergency vehicles were down at the stadium.”
The football game was eventually canceled at halftime, and as of Friday night there are no plans for the schools to make up the game. School resource officers at the game requested LCSO patrol deputies to come to the stadium and help conduct traffic out of the parking lot.
During traffic patrol, a deputy witnessed the 15-year-old with what appeared to be a firearm in his waistband. When the student was arrested, the assumed firearm was an airsoft gun, which is a replica toy gun that shoots out small pellets.
The case is still an open and active investigation, LCSO said.
This is the second incident to happen at Gene Cox Stadium in less than a year. In August 2022, a 14-year-old was arrested after a deputy found him with a loaded gun at the venue on Paul Russell Road.
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Jack Williams covers Florida State athletics for Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at jwilliams@tallahassee.com or on Twitter @jackgwilliams.