Shots fired near Louisville high school soccer game prompts stadium evacuation

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Shots fired near a high school soccer game in Louisville Tuesday night forced the crowd to be evacuated from the stadium.

The game between the J. Graham Brown School and duPont Manual High School was at Central High School's stadium.

Louisville Metro Police confirmed there was a shooting about 8 p.m. on Congress Street. Officers arrived to find a man in his 20s with a gunshot wound to the knee. He was taken to the hospital, and two juveniles running from the scene were detained by police but not initially arrested.

"When they go to school or they attend sporting events or just walking down the street, how can we ensure their safety," local resident Jackie Floyd said.

Jefferson County Public Schools provided very similar letters from principals sent to families of each school.

Brown School principal Dr. Angela Parsons said, "gunshots were fired at a nearby store, unrelated to our event, our schools or the game." She said LMPD called for an immediate shelter-in-place out of an abundance of caution.

duPont Manual High School principal Michael Newman said, "JCPS Police responded quickly and professionally, safely evacuating the soccer field and ensuring the safety of all students, staff, and spectators. We remained in communication with law enforcement throughout the situation, and once LMPD confirmed that the area was secure, attendees were allowed to safely leave."

Parsons and Newman stressed the incident didn't happen on JCPS property and was not connected to the schools.

"However, it is another heartbreaking example of how community violence continues to impact our students and school events. This is unacceptable."

Both schools are offering support to students impacted by what happened.

"The fact that it's happening in that area, or any place in our city, is something that we're not going to tolerate, and we're going to be on top of and again, we're imploring the community, if they have any information, which you know, during these shootings, there was a lot of people with a lot of eyes," LMPD Spokesperson Dwight Mitchell said.

Floyd said a change in approach to the violence is what she wants to see.

"I think we should start holding our elected officials more accountable as they disperse the money for these programs," Floyd said.

Read the full letter from duPont Manual here:

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