Man shot outside Woodland Hills-Penn Hills high school football game
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A man was shot outside the Woodland Hills and Penn Hills high school football game in Turtle Creek at The Wolvarena on Friday night.
Turtle Creek Mayor Adam Forgie said the shots were fired at a pharmacy down the street and heard by the crowd at The Wolvarena, the home stadium for Woodland Hills High School. That is when chaos ensued, as spectators began running for the exits.
"It did cause the students to freak out, and rightfully so, when they heard the shots," the mayor told KDKA-TV. "And more or less what I understand, it was a stampede of people getting out of the stadium. Right now, everything's OK. Just trying to put all the pieces together."
Allegheny County police said the man had left the game and was walking in the area when he heard several shots fired and was hit in the leg. He ran back to the stadium, looking for help, police said. He was taken to the hospital and was later released, according to officials.
Multiple ambulances and police vehicles responded to the scene. The game was called in the fourth quarter and the stadium was evacuated.
"Shooting occurred outside the stadium and had nothing to do with tonight's game," Penn Hills Indians Football posted to the social media platform X on Friday.
County police said their preliminary investigation shows the victim was shot in the 900 block of Oak Avenue.
"I actually didn't hear anything because we were coaching and I was paying attention to the play," Penn Hills assistant coach Lyle Harris told KDKA-TV. "We saw movement and it accumulated and started to move towards us and across the field. So, we're all shocked not knowing what's going on."
"After we found out there were gunshots, we moved to the end of the field and moved to a locker room that's underneath the stadium seats," he added.