Multiple fights erupted in the stands and spilled into the surrounding streets during a Friday night football game at Eastern High in Northeast Washington, marring a season-opening contest between Ballou and the host Ramblers and leading to the arrest of a teenage boy.
The boy, a juvenile, was taken into custody for possession of a BB gun on the 1700 block of East Capitol Street NE, D.C. police officer Sean Hickman said Saturday.
The altercations, which began with about 10 minutes remaining in the game, occurred on the Eastern side of the bleachers and quickly escalated. D.C. police officers and security guards intervened, and the game was delayed about 20 minutes before play resumed in Ballou’s eventual 38-18 season-opening victory.
“[D.C. police] worked swiftly as they always do to ensure all attendees were safe and the game was able to proceed,” a D.C. Public Schools official said. “We are grateful for their continued support, and we are working to discuss what additional steps we can take to ensure our football games are safe and enjoyable for the remainder of the season.”
Ballou Coach Jason Lane and Eastern Coach Jason Strickland said the melee did not involve a member of either team.
“I just saw a bunch of the crowd and security and police officers rushing toward the side of our stadium, where those fans were sitting,” Strickland said. “I couldn’t tell if they were fighting. It was just a lot of scrambling around that area.”
The fight spilled outside the stadium, where many of the spectators had evacuated, and down the block at the Stadium-Armory Metro station. Strickland said that people in the area of the fight were asked to leave the stadium but that “around 200 people” stayed to watch the remainder of the game.
“This is just more so [a] situation you can’t control,” said Lane, who was a football player for Ballou in 1988 when a fight broke out in the stands at Eastern. “As football players you can’t control what goes on.”
The 1988 brawl began when a female Ballou student and an Eastern cheerleader started fighting on the sidelines near Eastern’s bench and resulted in an injury to Eastern Coach James Fields.
Lane said he believes a bigger security presence would help deter fights at DCPS sporting events. Lane estimated that there were nearly 2,000 spectators at the game.
“I think they probably need to have more security present at some of the bigger games,” Lane said. “Not just security but [police] officers inside and outside of the game. . . . If they had more of a presence, it’s more of a deterrent.”