On Friday, October 3rd, at the Pasco vs Walla Walla game at Edgar Brown Stadium, school staff reported a group of masked individuals standing just across the street from the stadium. Pasco Police are alerted immediately by Pasco High staff. Before law enforcement could arrive, shots were fired near the group. The stadium was locked down, not allowing anyone in or out, for the safety of everyone inside. The suspects fled the scene before police arrived, but stayed for the rest of the game to ensure the safety of staff, students, and family. PPD is still investigating the incident.
The Pasco School District quickly notified parents through ParentSquare with an alert explaining what was going on.
“During the game, school staff reported a group of individuals across the street from the stadium wearing masks. Police were contacted immediately,” the district statement read. “Before officers arrived, shots were fired near the group. Stadium gates were secured to keep everyone safe, and no one was allowed to enter or exit until law enforcement directed otherwise.”
According to the Tri-City Harold, police are still unsure of who the suspects are or how many shots were fired that evening. There have been reports of a black SUV being involved but there is no confirmation. Police have not released any information on the investigation at this time.
“We are grateful for the swift response of Pasco Police and our staff, whose actions helped keep our school community safe,” states Principal Veronica Machado. “Safety remains our top priority.”
According to Apple Valley News, it could have simply been a false alarm of a car backfiring rather than actual gunshots.
“We put detectives on it to find any evidence we could find. To this point, we haven’t been able to find anything to substantiate a shooting. No video, no physical evidence, so that we could be looking at a backfire situation with cars driving by,” said Sgt. Lt. Thomas Groom of the Pasco Police Department to Apple Valley News. “Any time those events occur, whether it’s a sporting event or a normal school day, we are in direct contact with the school district. Our supervisors are getting on their phones and calling the school district to coordinate those events.”
If it were an actual shooting, it’s a good thing that nobody (that is known of) had gotten injured during the whole ordeal. Gun violence is a growing issue in America. Nearly 47,000 people died of gun-related injuries in the United States in 2023, according to the latest available statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Students and staff are lucky this didn’t turn into a tragedy (if there were actual guns involved. If it was just a car backfiring, it always serves to be safe rather than sorry).
If you have any questions or concerns regarding this incident, you can contact Mrs. Machado or the admin team.
At the time of writing this, I do believe it has been concluded as a car backfiring, as there were no shells or evidence of a shooting to be found on the scene. It’s common for a car backfiring to be mistaken for a gunshot, as it’s extremely loud and startling. The reason it’s so loud is that it’s a little explosion coming from the exhaust, either from the car running too rich on fuel or when an air/fuel mixture ignites at the wrong time, causing a sound similar to a gunshot.
