A sound resembling that of firecrackers caused panic at the conclusion of the Aug. 30 football game between Brush High School and Shaker Heights at Korb Field in Lyndhurst.
A fight broke out among spectators after the game. According to Lyndhurst Police administrative assistant Kim Foran, Lyndhurst police tried to resolve it. The sound occurred at 10:18 p.m. in front of Brush High School.
“At first when we heard the firecrackers, everyone obviously thought it was gunshots, so there was chaos everywhere with people running,” senior band member London DeMarco said.
According to one of two Lyndhurst police incident reports filed Aug. 30, at 10:27 p.m., the police were advised there was also commotion on Daytona Road, a street in front of the school and next to the school’s tennis courts.
According to an Aug. 31 email to high school parents by Principal Eric Juli, no Shaker Heights students were involved in the fights. “During this time, someone set off firecrackers. The commotion of the altercation combined with the noise of the firecrackers led to concerns about the severity of the incident. However, no weapon was used during the altercation nor was one recovered from any of the individuals involved,” Juli said.
Earlier in the evening, during the final minutes of the game’s halftime, an initial incident was reported to Lyndhurst police. According to another Aug. 30 incident report, while on the scene, outside of Brush High School, police were advised that two students may have heard gunshots. The report was deemed false two minutes later. Police cleared the halftime scene within 11 minutes.
“We saw police cars and were all confused,” DeMarco said. After the SHHS marching band’s halftime performance, DeMarco and other students were told by Adrian Picaro, marching band director, to go back to Shaker’s designated band area after getting concessions.
According to the second Aug. 30 incident report, police were warned during the fourth quarter of the game, at 9:52 p.m., that a possible disturbance was about to happen. Officers arrived at the scene one minute later.
At 10:11 p.m., Lyndhurst police were advised that there was a large gathering of young people at the front of the Brush High School building, outside of Korb Field. One minute later, this gathering was identified as a fight taking place.
These events caused the Lyndhurst Police Department to call on South Euclid, Highland Heights, University Heights and Mayfield Heights police. Mayfield Heights police could not respond, so Cleveland Heights police were also called at 10:30 p.m.
Police secured two juveniles by 10:49 p.m. and cleared the scene by 10:51 p.m. The juveniles were taken to the Lyndhurst police station, where they were picked up by a parent at 11:23 p.m.
“There were no injuries, there were no arrests,” Foran said.
The series of incidents occurred the same night as a shooting in Euclid, where a 15-year-old shot five youths, killing one, one hour after a football game between Euclid and Perry high schools.
The shooting took place only three minutes after the fight was identified at Brush. The two incidents were not connected.
However, inaccurate stories about the night’s events circulated. “Shots fired at Shaker Heights vs Brush High School FB game,” one anonymous source sent to the @clevelandremembrance.page Instagram account.
The account has more than 285,000 followers and aims to post breaking news in and around Cleveland. The anonymous direct message was posted to the account, worrying followers. “What’s next? No football games?” Instagram user @nadiahakalonnie commented.
The Raiders defeated the Arcs, 28-20 to reach a 2-0 record. The Raiders do not have another away football game until Week 5, when they will face Benedictine Sept. 20. The game will take place at John Carroll University.
DeMarco said these incidents do not affect his perspective about attending future away games. Said DeMarco,“It doesn’t really change anything. Even before this event, we knew the places we were going, and if they were safe or not. I definitely wasn’t expecting that, though.”
