OSSAA Responds After Gun Was Brought To Booker T. Football Game

The district says a clear bag policy has been in place for the last year. Meanwhile, the district has not released information on how this person got into the game with the gun.

Monday, August 28th 2023, 5:33 pm

By: Cal Day

TULSA, Okla. -

The Oklahoma Secondary Schools Athletics Association says it will provide resources and other support to schools after guns were brought into several games.

In Tulsa, the Booker T. Washington game was called early after police say a teenager brought a gun inside the stadium.

The district says a clear bag policy has been in place for the last year. Meanwhile, the district has not released information on how this person got into the game with the gun. Police say the panic started when a teenager showed a gun to a group of students. Investigators say this frightened the crowd, and everyone started running away from the area.

Police say a stampede broke out, and in that time, the armed teen ran away from district police. Officers say the teen dropped the gun, and they were able to recover it.

They say the teen hopped the fence into the nearby Town Square apartments and got away. Investigators say nobody was hurt.

OSSAA executive director David Jackson says a statewide policy wouldn’t work. He says it is better to have security at these events in the hands of each school site.

“You know the schools deal with security issues every day,” said Jackson. “They don’t need us to tell them how to keep people safe.”

Friday night’s scare at Booker T happened around the same time shots were fired during the Choctaw-Del City game, which left a 16-year-old dead and three others injured. The OSSAA says it is now reaching out to other states to get an idea on how to move forward.

“We’ve got some communications going out now just to kind of get some information and get some ideas on how other state associations would manage situations like what we had,” he said.

News On 6 reached out to Tulsa Public Schools for comment several times on Monday, but the district has not responded.

Tulsa Public Schools Announces Policy Changes For Athletic Events

Tulsa Public Schools announced changes to its policies for athletic events in response to the recent events.

Safety is a concern after someone flashed a gun during the Booker T. Washington game Friday night, sending crowds of people into a panic. TPs says all bags brought to games will now have to be clear so officials can easily search them.

The district says it will also use weapons detection systems and wands to check people before they get into a game.