A Minnesota high school’s homecoming celebration turned into a frightening emergency Friday night when gunfire erupted outside the football stadium, leaving two people injured and forcing students, parents and players to evacuate.
The shooting happened outside Aerie Stadium at Eden Prairie High School on Friday, Oct. 2, as Eden Prairie faced rival Minnetonka High School in its homecoming football game.
Eden Prairie police said officers were already providing security at the event when they responded at about 8:40 p.m. to reports of a disturbance near the north side of the school.
Within moments, the situation escalated.
Police Chief Matt Sackett said officers initially believed they were responding to a disturbance before reports began coming in that shots had been fired.
Two people were shot and taken to Hennepin Healthcare.
Authorities said both victims suffered injuries that were not considered life-threatening. Neither victim is a student at Eden Prairie High School or Minnetonka High School.
Police have not publicly identified the victims or released their ages.
Investigators said preliminary evidence suggests the shooting was targeted rather than a random attack. Police were still investigating what led up to the gunfire, and no arrests had been announced as of Saturday.
The violence unfolded as a large crowd of students, families and football fans packed the school grounds for what was supposed to be one of the biggest nights of the school year.
The game was in the second half when the emergency brought play to an abrupt halt.
Players and spectators were told to leave the stadium while police moved in to secure the area.
School officials directed people away from the stadium and established a reunification area at nearby Round Lake Park for students and families who needed transportation or were trying to locate one another.
People who remained inside the high school were temporarily placed under a hold restricting movement through the building while officers investigated.
Police later announced that the scene had been secured and there was no continuing active threat.
The Eden Prairie Police Department, Eden Prairie Fire Department and Hennepin County emergency medical personnel all responded to the incident.
Despite the confusion surrounding the shooting, school officials said the stadium evacuation was completed without additional injuries.
Superintendent Josh Swanson praised students, employees, families and first responders for the way they reacted during the emergency.
“Tonight was a hard night for our community,” Swanson said in a message to families, adding that the homecoming celebration had been “tarnished” by the violence.
He said the community nevertheless worked together to evacuate almost entirely within an hour and without anyone being hurt during the evacuation.
The shooting also forced major changes to the rest of Eden Prairie’s homecoming weekend.
On Saturday, Principal Jaysen Anderson announced that the school’s scheduled homecoming dance had been canceled.
Anderson said school leaders believed they could provide enough security to hold the event safely, but decided that hosting a dance less than 24 hours after such a traumatic incident would be inappropriate.
He said many students, staff members and families had been directly affected and needed time to recover.
Classes are still expected to resume Monday, with the district planning additional resources and staff support for students and employees affected by the incident.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said state officials were assisting local authorities as they searched for those responsible.
“No homecoming, in any community, should be disrupted by gun violence,” Walz said in a statement Friday night.
The football game itself was postponed after the shooting interrupted play.
Police continued investigating Saturday, focusing on the confrontation that preceded the gunfire and identifying whoever fired the shots.
Authorities have not announced a motive or publicly identified any suspects.
Anyone with information about the shooting is expected to be an important part of the investigation as detectives work to piece together exactly what happened outside the stadium.
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