Security may soon change at school sporting events

Walking up to a school sporting event five minutes before tip-off or kickoff may be a thing of the past because of new security guidelines that could be implemented in schools throughout the state.
School shootings at sporting events are no longer something you heard or read about at high schools in other states. Instead, they are happening in Louisiana.
With the shooting after Abbeville’s Friday night football game, Vermilion Parish School Superintendent Tommy Byler, school board members, and administrators have been discussing ways to make schools and sporting events safer.
“Athletic events are an extension of our school, and thus we need to make sure that we are holding people to an acceptable standard of what is allowed at school functions,” Byler said. “This needs to be in place from when participants, students and fans arrive at the stadium until they depart. We have to work with school officials, city officials and law enforcement to ensure we are providing a safe environment.”
When the AHS game ended and fans were walking back to their vehicles, a shooting occurred outside the J.H. Williams Middle School grounds.
The fans were walking on the sidewalk and reached Prairie Street when someone fired five shots at them.
One male at the AHS football game earlier was hit by a bullet and is expected to recover.
According to Police Chief Mike Hardy, the person doing the shooting was allegedly firing shots because of retaliation for the killing of Jazaylon Levy, 18, that happened over the summer. Levy was a student and football player at AHS.
It is not known if the person who did the shooting was in a vehicle or on foot.
As of Tuesday, no one has been arrested for the shooting.
Eight police officers (city officers and officers from the Marshal’s Office) were at the game. That was two more officers than are usually at an AHS game.
The AHS administration went to the clear bag policy for the homecoming game.
“I can only control what happens inside the fence,” said Byler. “We have to do a better job with kids in the bleachers and their parents. We have to do a better job with what gets in the game. We have to feel safe within the confines of the game.”
Byler said cameras were located at the middle school, but school buses blocked the cameras’ views. He wants to make sure that does not happen again.
Byler said a school board member wants to close streets around the stadium at J.H. Williams Middle School.
Chief Hardy said he has no plans to close any streets by JHW. For a middle school football game Wednesday at JHW, there will be extra security on the roads around the school. The streets will be open, however.
Byler said the school district would look into hiring extra security to do bag checks as fans enter the game.
Abbeville travels to Erath to battle the Bobcats in a district contest.
Erath Police Chief Anna Lapointe said there would be extra security inside and outside the game.