Woodland Hills makes big security changes following shooting near football game

TURTLE CREEK, Pa. — It was a mix of confusion and chaos last Friday at the Woodland Hills home game against Penn Hills.

“I was very confused; I didn’t know what was happening at first. I saw everyone running and I heard distant gunshots,” said Bella Caldwell, a senior at Woodland Hills.

>> Man shot in Turtle Creek near Woodland Hills stadium during high school football game, police say

A shooting happened in the middle of the game down the road from the Wolvarena, Allegheny County police said the victim ran to the stadium for help causing an alert to go across 911 that the shooting happened at the game. That led to panic and now the district is making some changes.

“We met Monday morning, and our decision was to let it refine us not define us,” said Woodland Hills Superintendent Dr. Daniel Castagna.

>> Penn Hills increasing security at football games following shots fired incident near Wolvarena

Starting this week, student tickets were only sold in school and only students from the two teams playing will be allowed at the games moving forward.

“Neighboring school districts come to our game and hang out. They aren’t there to watch the game as our students aren’t there to watch the game when they go to other schools. Consistently other superintendents have been reaching out that they are going to enforce the same policy,” Castagna said.

Plus, everyone in the stadium must be seated or moving to a seat, there will be no gathering in open areas and no entry after the first quarter.

Another element much like professional teams, only clear bags are allowed.

“We are making these changes because we want to preserve Friday night lights at the Wolvarena. To do that we got to make some positive implementations to control the crowd,” Castagna said.

While the changes may not be loved by all, students are hopeful. This week, the Peace Ambassadors handed out gift bags and talked to students about what they need moving forward.

“We don’t need any violence at a family-friendly oriented game,” Caldwell said.

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