A 15-year-old boy has been arrested after a promising teenage athlete was shot dead amid scenes of horror at a California high school football game.
Levi Brown, 17, was gunned down in the stadium of Independence High School in Bakersfield during the season opener on Friday night.
Witnesses said multiple shots were fired at about 8pm, and chaos ensued as spectators ran for their lives in the aftermath, as shown in disturbing footage.
Bakersfield Police Department arrested a 15-year-old boy in connection with the case on Saturday, and shared an image of him from behind being handcuffed.
The suspect had a large mop of curly black hair, and was wearing a black hoodie with skinny jeans. He has not been publicly identified by police. The Daily Mail has reached out for more information.
Meanwhile, Brown was identified as the victim by his heartbroken relatives and his sophomore year football coach, Vince Carter.
Carter described him as 'a good kid' who was 'really good' at football, but said he 'was around the wrong crowd and was getting mislead'.
'Levi had crazy potential and I always believed him it just sucks this is how it ended for my guy,' Carter said.
Levi Brown, 17, was gunned down in the stadium of Independence High School in Bakersfield, about 110 miles north-west of Los Angeles, during the season opener on Friday night
Bakersfield Police Department arrested a 1 5-year-old boy in connection with the case on Saturday, and shared the photograph shown above of him from behind being handcuffed
Carter also told the California Post he believed Brown would have been a college football athlete, and that he was a father to a one-year-old daughter.
The horror unfolded on Friday night in the south side of the football field as the Independence team was poised to play against Centennial High School.
A fight broke out between a group of boys, and shots rang out moments later, according to local news outlets.
Brown was gunned down at about 8pm, just as the game started. It's unclear whether he was due to play in the game.
He was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
'We know that families look forward to coming out here every Friday night and seeing their kids play on this field,' Sergeant Eric Celedon said following the shooting.
'Based on our preliminary investigation, we believe this began as an isolated incident that began as an altercation between a group of individuals, which ultimately resulted in the shooting.'
Witnesses said multiple shots were fired at about 8pm, and chaos ensued as spectators ran for their lives in the aftermath, as shown in the screenshot above
Police said the shooting started after a group got into a fight on the south side of the field
Footage from inside the stadium showed attendees running for their lives, as some football players crouched behind shrubbery.
Terrified attendees ran to their cars and fled to stadium exits while officers swarmed the area, video captured by Bakersfield Now showed.
A woman was seen clutching her chest as she and other fans were evacuated from the metal stands. Others appeared to be in tears as they made hurried calls to loved ones.
Local sportscaster, Vance Palm, said the shots sounded like fireworks at first.
'Certainly heard something, and then within a matter of seconds the entire Independence home stands all started rushing north [away from the shooting],' he said.
Brown was 'a good kid' who was 'really good' at football, but he 'was around the wrong crowd', according to his former coach Vince Carter who shared the photograph above
Across the country in Jacksonville, a 19-year-old woman and 20-year-old man were also injured during another shooting at a high school football game.
Police believe the suspects were just attending the game and had no affiliation with the schools, The Florida Times-Union reported.
'This incident stems from an ongoing dispute between the parties and doesn’t pose any additional danger to the community or to the two schools that were participating in the football game,' Officer Frederick Dash said.
The suspects are believed to be in their early 20s.
