Abington-Cheltenham football game suspended after student found with a loaded gun

Friday night’s football game between Montgomery County neighboring rivals Abington and Cheltenham High Schools was suspended during the third quarter after a parent noticed that a student in the stadium had a gun, police said.

When police searched the student at Abington High School’s stadium shortly before 8:30 p.m., a loaded handgun and two extended magazines were found in his possession, according to statements posted to Facebook by police and the Cheltenham School District.

The juvenile, who was identified only as a Cheltenham High School student, was arrested on felony weapons offenses, including possession of a firearm, and taken to the Montgomery County Youth Center in Eagleville, police said.

No shots were fired and no injuries were reported. The football game was suspended “out of an abundance of caution and for the safety of the students and spectators,” police said. Cheltenham was leading 14-7.

A YouTube video shows that with 1 minute, 49 seconds left in the third quarter, during a break in the action while an injured Cheltenham player was being tended to on the field, a man approaches a referee. Shortly after, the players are seen jogging off the field with spectators calling out, asking what was going on. A public-address announcer then informs the crowd “the game is canceled.” Some fans boo. “Details will follow. Please leave the stadium, thank you for coming,” the announcer says.

A notice about the incident posted on the Cheltenham School District Facebook page said that the football teams had been safely dismissed to the locker rooms, and that the game would be resumed at a later date.

In another post Saturday afternoon, Cheltenham’s superintendent of schools, Brian W. Scriven, provided the following sequence of events:

Near the end of the game’s second quarter, a parent reported seeing a person with a gun to a Cheltenham High School safety team member. The safety team member reported that information, including a description of the person, to a member of the Abington Police Department. The person was located and determined to be a Cheltenham High School student.

During halftime, Abington police searched the student and found a loaded handgun, along with two extended magazines. The student was arrested and taken to the Abington Police Department.

The decision to postpone the game followed.

Calling safety and security “our top priority as a school district,” Scriven said the armed student’s “behavior is abhorrent and will not be tolerated. In addition to legal consequences, the student will face severe disciplinary action in accordance with the policies of the Cheltenham School District,” Scriven said.

Describing the incident as “very upsetting for all of us,” Scriven said counselors would be available Monday and in the coming days to talk to students and provide support.

“This most recent event is an indicator that we need to proactively educate our community with respect to our policies on weapon possession on school property,” Scriven told The Inquirer in an emailed statement.

In a post on a Facebook group, Cheltenham residents expressed their thoughts about the incident, with some calling for metal detectors in the school.

“As a district, there has been no dialogue regarding metal detectors; however, I can see that topic being broached as we collectively determine what’s in our best interest for keeping a safe and orderly environment,” Scriven shared in his statement to The Inquirer.

An investigation continues by Abington police and the school district.

At another high school football game Friday night in Oklahoma, a 16-year-old was killed and two other people were wounded in a shooting that had players and spectators scrambling for cover. Police were still searching for whoever fired at them.

In November 2019, a 10-year-old boy was one of three people shot in the stands during a playoff game near Atlantic City between the Camden Panthers and the Pleasantville Greyhounds. Micah Tennant, a fifth grader at Atlantic City’s Uptown School Complex, was shot in the neck and died five days later.

It was a Friday night after a high school football game two years ago when 8-year-old Fanta Bility was killed by police officers responding to a shooting outside the Academy Park High School football game in Delaware County. As the game let out, gunfire erupted, with three Sharon Hill officers firing multiple rounds at a Chevrolet Impala that had abruptly stopped in front of them outside the stadium and which they mistakenly thought was the source of the gunfire they had heard. Police later determined that the gunfire came from two teens who had been shooting at each other after a petty argument during the game.

Fanta was struck by one of 25 rounds the officers fired at the Impala as spectators streamed out of the stadium. Earlier this year, the officers were sentenced to five years’ probation after pleading guilty late last year to 10 counts each of reckless endangerment.

To honor the two-year anniversary of Fanta’s death, family members plan to gather in front of Sharon Hill Elementary School on Sunday afternoon to announce how they plan to keep her name and legacy alive.