NO LONGER A GAME : Gunfire, Violence Increasingly Are Threats to High School Football

High school football is not what it used to be.

In the last two weeks, one person has been killed and two others have been wounded by gunfire that has occurred near fields where games were being played.

Another game was called off in the fourth quarter for fear of gang violence. And a mother whose son was ejected from a game was taken away in handcuffs after she assaulted and threatened a referee afterward.

With two months remaining in the season, school administrators, coaches and players are bracing for the worst.

“Unfortunately, the shootings and violence are things that are always in the back of your mind,” said Rob Levy, the football coach at Belmont High for the last 10 years. “We unfortunately are in a war zone.

“I’ve told my kids many times that if a shooting happens that they should hit the ground, take cover and get to a safe place as quickly as possible. Reality is that you have to prepare for the worst.”

Minutes after a game between Long Beach Jordan and Playa del Rey St. Bernard last Friday night at St. Bernard, there were gunshots 50 feet from a gate in the front of the stadium.

Two groups of males exchanged words before two 18-year-olds were shot in the head, said Los Angeles Police Detective Pete Waack. One of the victims, Earoll Thomas, was shot three times and died before paramedics arrived. The other victim, Costromas Abercrombie, was shot in the left temple and had surgery to remove the bullet on Tuesday. He’s in stable condition at a hospital in Harbor City.

Waack said a 17-year-old suspect, a member of the Jordan football team who didn’t play in that night’s game, was arrested near Jordan High on Monday and is being held at Juvenile Hall in Sylmar. He was charged Wednesday with one count of murder, one count of attempted murder and two counts of personal possession of a gun. An upcoming fitness hearing will determine whether he will be tried as an adult or juvenile.

Thomas and Abercrombie were teammates on the Verbum Dei High football team last year. Thomas was attending Long Beach State this fall, and Abercrombie was taking classes and playing football at L.A. Harbor College.

Abercrombie was the starting middle linebacker at Harbor College and had played in two games this season.

St. Bernard had six off-duty police officers, 18 parent volunteers and five administrators at the game for security. But they couldn’t stop the first shooting to occur at the school in conjunction with an athletic event.

“This is a major concern for all of us,” said Jim McClune, St. Bernard’s athletic director. “I was on the scene shortly after the shootings, and I know none of us here want this to happen again.”

A week earlier, on Sept. 27, a 20-year-old man was shot in the lower back in front of Westchester High, where a game against Washington was being played. Although the shots were heard by many spectators, the game wasn’t interrupted.

School district police officers responded to the incident and called paramedics. No arrests have been made and police have no motive, although they suspect it is gang related.

That same evening, a game between Lynwood and Inglewood was called with nearly two minutes remaining after sheriff’s deputies became worried about fighting on the Inglewood side of the field.

Lywnood Principal Gary Beverly, whose school was host for the game, said several spectators began arguing with a group of students standing behind a fence outside the stadium. When some of the students began jumping the fence, the deputies arrested them for trespassing and advised the referee to stop the game.

“We wanted to make sure everything was safe and secure for students and parents,” Beverly said. “Because it was late in a nonleague game, the officers saw no need to continue. I went along with their decision.”

According to a San Bernardino Police Department report, a parent was involved in an incident after a game between San Bernardino Aquinas and Redlands Arrowhead Christian Academy last Friday at Aquinas.

Valerie Browne, who son plays for Aquinas and was ejected from the game for stepping on an opponent’s head after a play, followed officials into the parking lot after the game.

Browne punched Joseph Schnekenburger, the official who ejected her son, three times in the face and threatened to kill him, according to the report. She was handcuffed and arrested by another official, Lawrence Nelson, an off-duty sheriff’s deputy.

Browne was taken to the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga and remains in custody. She was charged with a threatening crime and assault on a sports official.

Although violent incidents surrounding football games are not new to Southland high schools, the number of problems that have occurred this season have heightened concerns.

Hundreds of parents showed up at a principal’s meeting Monday night at St. Bernard High, and the main topic of conversation was the shootings after Friday’s football game. Some parents suggested discontinuing the football season; others recommended moving home games to the afternoon.

McClune said administrators are committed to making home football games “the safest place in America,” but won’t make any quick decisions. He said they are planning to review their entire athletic schedule for the school year and will drop opponents that present potential problems.

“It’s unfortunate that it’s a knee-jerk reaction, but we can’t tolerate an unsafe environment,” McClune said.

City Section schools don’t have requirements for security at athletics contests, but administrators and coaches work with the district’s police department to plan needs for each contest.

The recent football game between Washington and Westchester had been deemed a “critical” game by the district, meaning extra security was needed.

“For the contests we consider critical, extra security is hired,” said Lt. Walter Nelson of the Los Angeles Unified School District Police Department. “We plan this out way in advance, trying to anticipate when and where potential problems may occur.”

Belmont’s Levy is familiar with the planning. His school’s game against longtime rival Marshall was played last Friday night at Van Nuys High because officials feared holding it at either school would cause security problems.

“This game has a history of creating problems, so they moved it over the hill,” Levy said. “That’s what it has come to.”