Fights disrupt Aurora high school football game; game suspended, 2 arrested
Authorities in Aurora say fights that broke out and disrupted a football game led to two arrests Friday night.
It happened at the Aurora Public Schools Stadium on the Hinkley High School campus. The game between Vista Peak and Rangeview was halted with 2:20 left in the third quarter at the request of police.
Lt. Matt Brukbacher told CBS News Colorado he was the officer who made the request. Brukbacher was one of APD's patrol commanders on duty Friday night.
"I believe that last night was a bit of a watershed event," Brukbacher said. "From my perspective of dealing with incidents like that at the stadium in the past, this was probably the most aggressive and violent that I have seen. The fact it was the first game of the year gives me some pause. I think the conversation definitely needs to be had to ensure the safety of all."
Brukbacher said school resource officers and district security personnel first called for help at 7:38 p.m. They reported a fight was occurring and a weapon was being used. As officers arrived, smaller fights broke out between groups of three to four individuals. But when police moved in on one fight between two teenage boys and found a gun on one of them, some of the spectators at the game became upset.
"At that time, as we were trying to apprehend the suspects, a large angry crowd started forming around my officers, creating a very dangerous situation," Brukbacher said. We definitely saw some very concerning behavior from the crowd. They were very angry and aggressive toward law enforcement, very unwilling to obey the orders of law enforcement."
"That's when the event was shut down and I requested additional officers from throughout the city."
Between 60 and 70 officers responded, Brukbacher estimated.
The armed teenager was arrested on assault and juvenile weapon possession charges. An adult male was arrested on disorderly conduct and obstruction of government operations charges.
Brukbacher said he doesn't know the "genesis" or reason for the fights, but did say authorities were notified of threats made earlier in the day. These threats mentioned bringing guns to the game.
"We were on a heightened state of awareness to begin with. When we recovered the handgun, that obviously lent some credibility to the concerns we had."
The game was suspended by an APS athletic director. Vista Peak was ahead 31-0 at the time and was declared the winner.
A spokesman for the school district provided a statement:
We were disappointed and troubled to see multiple spectators engage in fights during last night's football game. We are grateful that no one was seriously injured. The safety of our students, staff and families is our top priority. In the interest of safety, we canceled the rest of the football game. We do not condone or allow any violent behavior at our sporting events.
We want to acknowledge the quick action and response from our APS Security Team and the Aurora Police Department. We are reviewing our game management protocols to ensure all future events can be enjoyed by district patrons. We ask for our community's support in preventing future disruptions to our games.
A spokesperson for the Colorado High School Activities Association said the organization was aware of the incident. Aside from pointing out that it did not involve individuals from either of the two football teams, the organization had no comment.
Last December, a game between Rangeview and Aurora Central was halted by an on-field fight. That same season, referees walked off the field to force an abrupt end to a game in Pueblo after the teams brawled.
But Brukbacher, who calls crowd management one of his professional skillsets, said the people on the field are not his primary concern following Friday night's incident.
"It's disheartening to see an event like that, that's for the school and for the community and for the students, get hijacked by people that have nefarious intent. It's really disappointing. You could tell. You could see it in the faces of the players, on the faces of the players' parents who were deeply concerned. Their kids are just out there trying to play a game. We had a lot of parents that came up to us and thanked us for protecting their kids."
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"They're not the ones we're worried about. It's other juveniles showing up with intent on causing disruption, causing chaos and hurting people. And I don't know how we fix these individuals, how we stop them from coming to events like this. Those kids are not afraid to go out to their car and get a gun and further a fight or disagreement with a deadly weapon. I don't know how we solve that - juveniles that are turning to guns to solve their disputes. But I'll tell you, we were very close to a critical incident last night. I certainly believe some further discussion and communication is going to be required as this season goes forward."