Nov. 16 (UPI) -- Five men face charges in connection with a shooting at a New Jersey high school football game that injured three people, including two minors, prosecutors announced Saturday.
The shooting took place Friday evening during a playoff game between host Pleasantville High School and Camden High School, but Atlantic County Prosecutor Damon Tyner said the violence was unrelated to either school's students.
Authorities arrested Alvin Wyatt, 31, of Atlantic City, on three counts of attempted murder and weapons charges, and four other men on charges of unlawful possession of a weapon and certain persons not to possess a weapon, Tyner announced Saturday.
The other four suspects are Michael Mack, 27, Tyrell Dorn, 28, Shahid Dixon, 27, all of Atlantic City, and Vance Golden, of Pleasantville, the prosecutor's statement shows.
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Ibn Abdullah, 27, of Atlantic City, was in stable condition at a hospital. A 10-year-old victim was in critical condition and a 15-year-old "suffered a graze wound" and has been released from the hospital, the statement said.
"Unlike some of the school shootings that have occurred on school premises throughout the country, this incident had nothing to do with the students of Pleasantville High School of Camden High School," Tyner said.
"The venue simply presented an opportunity for criminals to pursue their own form of petty vengeance against one another. As a result, an innocent child was caught and injured in their crossfire. Our community will not be held hostage by a few idiots intent on jeopardizing our safety and the safety of our children."
Officials said they do not know what led to the shooting or the motive behind it.
"This was a problem that came to us, and while we'll handle it and we're well-prepared to resolve the issue and to deal with the ramifications of it, this isn't something that started here, but it is something that we're going to finish," police Chief Sean Riggin said at a news conference.
The incident occurred at 8:31 p.m. on the home side of the bleachers during the third quarter with Camden leading 6-0. More than 1,000 people attended the game, which will resume Wednesday at a "a neutral site that will be closed to the public," Larry White, executive director of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, said.
"We were all running and looking back at the same time to make sure our families were OK," Greyhounds running back/linebacker Ernest Howard told The Press of Atlantic City. "But once we got to the fence, we couldn't really jump over because we still had our pads on. So we all just broke through the fence to get to the gym."
