Oregon Police respond to rumors of shooter at Clay HS football game

Oregon Police say there was no shooting after chaos at the Clay v. Waite High School football game Friday night.

In a post on Facebook, the police department released the following: "In reference to the incident at the Clay High School football game tonight: There wasn’t a shooting and there was not a confirmed sighting of a gun. There were some students whose actions caused alarm and they were identified and removed from the grounds. You can be assured that if any students or fans were in danger or thought to be in danger, the school and the police would’ve ended the game for everyone’s safety."

Here is a copy of the letter sent to parents, students, faculty and staff at Oregon Schools:

Dear Oregon Community,

Tonight those who attended the Clay vs Waite football game experienced what it feels like when a large group of people believe there is an active threat occurring.

During the beginning of the third quarter, a panic began when someone said an individual had a gun in the north end of the stadium where our students interact. Almost immediately, the student section, band, football teams, parents and others began running towards the exits and evacuating the stadium.

There was no weapon found or credible evidence that a gun ever existed. There were no shots fired and there were no fights. No one was hurt and as far as I know all students were accounted for.

What we believe may have happened is a student may have acted like a gun was under his/her shirt which set off the chain of events and panic. Again, at this time, the police have no concrete evidence this occurred and no one has been arrested.

I cannot express how proud I was of our students and community and those who attended the game. Although the situation was scary, students acted as they have been trained and looked out for one another. I witnessed many many people helping other people.

Within 30 minutes everything calmed down, we assessed the situation, and both teams agreed to resume the game.

Tomorrow, school leaders and myself will debrief what happened and review our plan to support our students on Monday when they return to school. Many of our students and parents were very shaken up, rightfully so, and we will do all we can to provide the necessary support to each individual.

Finally, thank you to the Oregon Police, Sheriff Deputies, Oregon Fire Department, Waite HS officials, coaches, school leaders and all others who stepped up and helped.

Hal Gregory

OCS Superintendent