One adult, one teenager and one juvenile were taken into custody in Texas Friday after authorities thwarted what they believe may have been a mass shooting at a high school homecoming football game.
Everman police say an off-duty Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office deputy received a “credible and potentially imminent threat” that someone was on his way to the football game with the “intent of utilizing” a gun he got earlier in the day.
“We’re talking about over 3,000 people in a consolidated space,” Everman Police Chief Craig Spencer told FOX 4 News Dallas about the Everman High School homecoming game. “The information that we received included a suspect identification and vehicle information.”
Additional officers were quickly called to the high school football stadium to assist, despite an already heavy law enforcement presence at the game.
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A vehicle matching the description was found heading towards the football stadium a short time later.
“One of our officers attempted to make a traffic stop on that vehicle. The vehicle initially did not stop,” Spencer said.
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Officers were finally able to stop the vehicle near the stadium’s east gate entrance.
Three people who were inside the vehicle were taken into custody. Police told FOX 4 they recovered an AR-15 gun and a 60-round magazine.
Two people – an 18-year-old and a 17-year-old – were arrested and charged with unlawful carrying of a firearm in prohibited places. The third passenger, a 10-year-old, was later released to their parents.
No names of those involved have been released.
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“We have to treat every single threat that comes in as a credible threat until we can prove otherwise,” Spencer said.
“Police are still investigating to find out what their plan was. It’s unclear if they were targeting fans, players or someone else,” FOX 4 reports.
An announcement about the incident was not made at the game because police said they didn’t want to stir panic.
“This threat was addressed and limited within minutes,” Spencer said.