Arrest after incident involving gun threat at Summerville-Stratford game

GOOSE CREEK, SC (WCIV) — A 14-year-old student was arrested in connection with an incident that led to the cancellation of the second half of the Summerville-Stratford game on Friday.

“This is not a joke,” said Goose Creek Police Chief LJ Roscoe. “I don't know why a young person would think it's cool to own a gun.

“He was making gestures toward the bag and trying to make people think he had a gun. Someone in the crowd said, 'Hey, he has a gun.' Everyone ran away. The youth took responsibility for the incident. He was charged with both threatening students and disrupting school operations.”

READ MORE | “Teen arrested, no weapon found after threats interrupt Stratford-Summerville football game.”

Law enforcement is making things right.

“There was no shooting at that game in Stratford,” Roscoe said. “There was no shooting at the Sonic. There was no shooting at the Food Lion. There was no shooting in that area.”

Preston Giet, security chief of Dorchester District Two, was with the Summerville squad.

“I was involved in getting our team and cheerleaders on and off the buses in a timely manner, and I also helped some of our seniors exit the stands,” Giet said.

Safety is the top priority. The stadium has been evacuated.

“There were 3,000 people at the game on Friday night, I think it went completely smoothly. We had 20 officers who were on the scene probably within 60 to 90 seconds of the calls coming in,” Roscoe said.

READ MORE | “The Stratford vs. Summerville high school football game has been canceled.”

A crisis was averted on Friday, but security authorities are always looking for ways to make the situation even safer.

“They allow small clutch-style handbags. I believe they're double-checking to see if he complied with that rule. I know they're also talking about a little more security around bringing in items from outside, but that would also be under the jurisdiction of the Berkeley County School District,” Roscoe says.

“The worst thing you can do in a situation like this is indecision. They made a decision based on that information and the worst thing that happened was that we didn't finish the game. It could have been a lot worse if there had actually been a weapon involved,” says Giet.