Starkville school leaders still investigating alleged shooting

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – Starkville School District leaders continue to investigate a reported shooting during a late-night scrimmage game Friday.

The football team was hosting its “Midnight Madness” when staff and spectators heard shots from the parking lot.

“It’s tough when a situation like this happens, it’s an event that’s supposed to celebrate our upcoming football season and we’re heartbroken when we have situations that are frightening to our students or families,” said the director of Communications for Starkville Oktibbeha School District, Haley Montgomery.

Montgomery said the game ended just before 12:30 a.m. when staff members said they heard gunshots from the parking lot.

“Some of our administrators and SRO personnel as well as a few attendees heard what they thought could have been gunshots toward the south end of the Starkville high school campus,” said Montgomery.

Montgomery said there was a fight between students before the game started but there’s no evidence that the altercation was connected to the alleged shots.

Montgomery said the district’s investigation has not led them to proof that a weapon was fired on school grounds.

“Our team along with SPD did some searching and there were no weapons recovered on campus. We’ve had no physical evidence found on campus that there actually was a gun fired,” said Montgomery.

Montgomery said the SROs and staff will continue to screen for weapons and abide by the clear bag policy for all home games; because it’s safety first.

“The safety and security of our students, and our families, and our community is our top priority whether it’s in the classroom or outside the classroom wherever we are and certainly any event on campus you know our goal is to make sure that yellow jacket stadium is safe for our families and our community,” said Montgomery.

Montgomery said that school resource officers and Starkville PD will be in full force for the first home game on August 25, 2023.

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