TULSA, Okla. — Several school districts and the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Athletics Association (OSSAA) are trying to give answers after three scares involving a gun during the first weekend of football games across the state.
One turned deadly in Choctaw Friday, claiming the life of a 16-year old boy.
During Booker T. Washington's game in Tulsa Friday night, a student was reported to show a pistol, causing panic.
WATCH: 2 News Oklahoma reported the night it happened.
After the field and stands cleared during the fourth quarter, only the pistol was found. No one is in custody as of Monday afternoon.
"Yeah, but if there was a camera pointed, or one of those round ones you get the whole circumference, I mean come on. Put the cameras up so you can start catching people," said Tomi Keys, who lives close to BTW.
"It was quite a shock to have the one and especially the second one that we heard about," OSSAA Executive Director David Jackson said.
A third incident happened at Locust Grove Public Schools during its high school's game Saturday. In a statement, Superintendent Daniel Stokes said the student was arrested without further incident.
Neither Locust Grove Public Schools nor Tulsa Public Schools could not meet with 2 News on camera on Monday.
TPS Monday offered a rundown of district safety measures implemented this school year, including a clear bag policy and instructions to report any suspicious activity to their 24-hour safety hotline.
Tulsa Public Schools develops our safety procedures for athletics events through close collaboration with experts and suggested best practices implemented by the NCAA.If you see something or hear something that could jeopardize school safety, please contact our 24-hour safety hotline at 918-480-SAFE.
- We have added safety procedures and technology for the 2023-24 school year.
- The clear bag policy was implemented as of August 1st.
- The weapons detection systems are also new this year.
- Additional security measures will be in place for upcoming games.
- We ask that our students, families, and fans embrace the increased safety practices and report any unauthorized or suspicious activity.
OSSAA said it is looking into outside help to assist school districts in order to ensure panics like the one at Williams Stadium Friday don't become common. Other than that, the association said it's confident enough in local security.
"We've got some communication going out now just to kind of get some information as to how other state associations would handle situations like what we had," Jackson said during the Zoom news conference.
"The schools deal with security issues every day and keeping their kids safe in school every day, so they don't need us to tell them how to keep people safe. That's something they do and do well."
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