The Philadelphia Eagles offered to host the remaining 17 minutes of a high school football game after it was interrupted last week by a shooting that left three wounded, a New Jersey athletic association announced on Monday.
The shooting, which was captured on video by local news media, occurred on Friday during the third quarter of a playoff game hosted by Pleasantville High School — just outside of Atlantic City, N.J. — against Camden High School.
Five men were charged on Saturday in connection with the shooting, according to the authorities.
“It’s extremely unfortunate that a senselessly violent act has impacted this game, and there will certainly be a wide range of emotions along both sidelines,” Larry White, the executive director of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, said in a statement.
The game, which is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, will be closed to the public but streamed live on NJ.com for free, according to the athletic association. The high school players will be allowed to invite a limited number of family members to watch at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, which is about 50 miles from Pleasantville High School.
“Thanks to the Eagles’ generosity and community spirit, Pleasantville and Camden student-athletes and their families will have an opportunity to write their own ending to this game,” Mr. White said. “They’ll compete on a world-class stage, sending a clear message that violence will not win.”
The authorities did not release a specific motive for the shooting, but Damon G. Tyner, the Atlantic County prosecutor, said in a statement that it had nothing to do with the high school students, unlike in other recent school shootings.
“The venue simply presented an opportunity for criminals to pursue their own form of petty vengeance against one another,” Mr. Tyner said.
At a news conference on Saturday, the police identified one victim as 27-year-old Ibn Abdullah. A gunman targeted Mr. Abdullah, who was in custody at the hospital after being charged with an unlawful weapons offense, the police said. They did not specify whether the charge was in connection to the shooting.
A 10-year-old was shot in the neck and was critically injured, the police said Saturday. A 15-year-old was treated for a graze wound and released from a hospital.
Alvin Wyatt, 31, of Atlantic City, was charged with three counts of attempted murder, unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, according to the county prosecutor’s office.
The four other suspects — Shahid Dixon, 27; Tyrell Dorn, 28; Michael Mack, 27; and Vance Golden, 26 — were each charged with unlawful possession of a weapon.
Source: Football - nytimes.com
