Two arrested in fight that cleared South Side football stadium
BY HUNTER CLAUSS AND STEFANO ESPOSITO Staff Reporters September 8, 2012 11:26PM
Updated: September 9, 2012 11:47AM
Two people were arrested after a fight cleared the stands during the Simeon-Morgan Park football game Friday night — a fight that left one person stabbed and led to the cancellation of the game, Chicago Police said Saturday.
Police spokesman Joshua Purkiss did not release the names of the two people taken into custody after the melee cleared the stands at Gately Stadium at 800 E. 103rd.
He said police did not receive reports of gunshots fired at the stadium. No updates on the condition of the person stabbed were available Saturday.
However, some spectators at the game said they saw and heard gunshots.
“We were just cheering for our team, and then the next thing we knew we heard something,” said Suzy Hilton, 15, a Simeon ninth-grader. “I saw [a flash of] light. We heard a gunshot. And everybody just ran and we had to duck down under the benches. It was real scary.”
Craig Scott, 17, a senior at Morgan Park, said he was atop the stands — which hold 8,000 people — when he overheard a group of teens “say they were looking for somebody, to beat somebody up.”
A fight broke out, and people scattered, he said. “It was very terrifying.”
He said he saw some people get “trampled” and he heard gunshots outside the stadium after the game. But officials said they knew of no other injuries.
Simeon led Morgan Park 6-0 when the game was suspended with 10:27 left to play in the third quarter. The game will be completed at 3 p.m. Sunday without fans.
