Football Turns to Fear Amid Gunfire : Gangs: A rivalry played out on the field turned to horror as shots sent panic through players and spectators. Police have no suspects, but angry young Southwest L.A. residents point the finger at gangs.

The Dorsey High Dons sat in the campus weight room Friday, eyes trained on a television set that played a videotape of their football game against rival Crenshaw High the night before.

As the tape ran into the fourth quarter, with Dorsey leading 28 to 6, the images abruptly changed. There was the recorded sound of a single pop, and people fell to the grass. On the flickering tape, fans stampeded onto the field, coaches assembled squad members at the 50-yard-line. This was no longer a game film; it was more like evidence.

That popping sound Thursday night was gunfire. Though the severals shots heard apparently came from outside Jackie Robinson Stadium, the 800 people at the game feared that a sniper was on the loose or a gang war had broken out. In terror, they hit the ground or bolted for cover.

“Oh my God, people started hopping over the fence, they were tearing their clothes, they were screaming, pushing and shoving,” said Shauntel Wilcox, a 16-year-old cheerleader. “I was so scared. I was terrified. I was scared for my life.”

Police said Friday they were not sure who was responsible for the gunfire, which they said consisted of at least 20 rounds fired from two different locations. While no one was reported hit by gunfire, the terror for the fans and players took its own toll.

Several spectators, players and coaches at the traditional match-up between Southwest Los Angeles schools Crenshaw and Dorsey said that the gunfire was the result of the deadly rivalry between the Crips and the Bloods. They said the Crips consider Crenshaw High their territory, while the Bloods claim the neighborhood surrounding Dorsey High.

The purpose of the gunfire appeared to be to ignite panic at the stadium, spectators and others said.

“They don’t care who they may hurt, they just want to destroy,” one witness said.

Police officials could not confirm that gang members were involved and did not assign a motive. No arrests had been made by late Friday.

Such are the times in Los Angeles that Paul Knox, Dorsey’s offensive coach, said he had prepared his team not only for opponents’ blitz, but also for the possibility that there might be gang violence at a game.

“We have talked about what to do in case of gunfire,” he said. “I told my players in case of an emergency get in the middle of the field and get down. We have never had to deal with gunfire, but we have developed contingency plans, just like in an earthquake.”

Those plans fell apart Thursday night as fans began spilling onto the playing field.

“I heard this boom sound, the gunshots, and immediately I went down,” said Demetrick Watts, 17-year-old defensive end. “Then people from the stands began stepping over me and I was scared I was going to get trampled.”

Spencer Wray, 18, was on the sidelines frantically trying to find his mother in the crowd. “She was supposed to be at the game, but I couldn’t find her,” he said. “Then I ran into someone who told me she wasn’t able to get to the game. That was the first game that I was at that I was happy my mom didn’t come to see me play.”

After the shooting, the game was suspended, and the players from both teams were taken to their locker rooms.

“These kids are all friends,” Knox said. “Sure there is an intense rivalry between them, a fierce rivalry, but they are friends, some are members of the same families. They went to junior high school together and they party together. Those people who were out there shooting have no regard for anything.”

Terrel Ray, one of Crenshaw’s football coaches, said the escalation of gang violence harms the community.

“I wish that things like this wouldn’t happen,” he said. “I wish these kids, these gang members, would realize that they are making things bad for the rest of us. People point the finger at the school when things like this happen, but it is not the schools. These are not bad schools, these are bad individuals.”

The anger at the shooting incident was also expressed by Lamont Waren, 16-year-old running back at Dorsey. “All I want to do is play football. This is crazy, we shouldn’t have to worry about being shot,” he said. “This has been a very difficult season for us, all we want to do is play football.”

Waren and other players observed that this year the Dorsey football squad seems to have suffered more than its share. Beyond the standard football injuries and heartbreak defeats, the team suffered a tragedy last month when star receiver Kevin Copeland died of a heart attack after collapsing on the sidelines during a game against San Pedro.