Wake schools investigate after gunshots, fights erupt at football jamboree
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Wake school board reviewed security after gunshots, fights at Aug. 15 jamboree
- No injuries reported, but the incident renewed focus on student safety measures
- Volunteers blamed unsupervised teens and urged parents to stay involved at events
The Wake County school board is looking into what could have been done differently after gunshots and multiple fights erupted at last week’s football jamboree at Southeast Raleigh High School.
No one was injured, but the incident has raised safety concerns just as most Wake County schools are set to begin the new school year. Using an exemption allowed for school safety issues, the school board met in private Tuesday night with district security staff to get a briefing on the jamboree incident.
“We often don’t talk about safety and security in public because when we talk about specific security methods or things that are in place, we want to make sure that bad actors don’t have access to that,” school board chair Chris Heagarty said at Tuesday’s board meeting. “Please rest assured, though, that although it hasn’t been talked about publicly tonight, this board will be reviewing everything that happened at Southeast Raleigh Magnet High School and the security measures that were in place.”
Heagarty said the board would discuss issues such as how parents were reunited with their children after the incident. He said they’d also discuss what can be done to ensure the safety of students at all schools, and particularly what can be done to support Southeast Raleigh High.
“We will have that briefing in closed session later tonight,” Heagarty said. “I’m sure more comments for the public will follow.”
Fans run out on field to disrupt jamboree
Football teams from eight high schools held a pre-season scrimmage at Southeast Raleigh High’s stadium on Aug. 15.
The jamboree was cut short after some fans raced onto the field following a Southeast Raleigh touchdown, according to Stacey Dove Brodie, who was a volunteer at the event.
“It makes it bad for everybody else,” Brodie told ABC11, The News & Observer’s newsgathering partner. “You’ve got boys that have worked all summer. They’ve worked all year preparing for these moments. It just negates all the hard work that goes into every day .”
After the jamboree ended, multiple fights erupted in the parking lot and an individual discharged a firearm, according to a letter Southeast Raleigh High Principal George Harden sent to families.
Raleigh police said Wednesday they have not made any arrests in the case.
Parent defends Southeast Raleigh High
The incident comes as Southeast Raleigh High works to rebuild its image following a fatal 2023 stabbing on campus. A 14-year-old student was charged with fatally stabbing one 16-year-old student and wounding another during a fight in the school’s gym.
Brodie, an alumna and parent at Southeast Raleigh High, said there was never a time she felt her son was unsafe attending the school. She’s gone on social media to defend the school from critics.
“Let’s go ahead and know that there isn’t a Southeast problem, we have a parenting problem overall,” Brodie said Saturday in a Facebook post.
The young people who were causing trouble at the jamboree weren’t Southeast Raleigh students, according to Brodie. Instead, Brodie said parents from other schools have been using football games as “daycare” by allowing their children to go unsupervised.
Brodie said these unsupervised teenagers are terrorizing the kids who actually plan to watch the game and support the players.
“We all can acknowledge and remember being mischievous teenagers but this stuff is far beyond what any of us could imagine,” Brodie said. “These children have no boundaries and no respect for any authority. We are sick of it, Southeast is not the drop-off zone.”
