Gwinnett school officials announce football game safety measures after recent incident

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Gwinnett County Public School officials announced safety measures for future football games at Discovery High School following a recent incident.

Beginning Friday, high school-age students at the games must attend Discovery High, anyone younger must have an adult with them in the stadium, only clear bags are allowed and attendance will be capped at 1500.

“We understand there is some concern over the safety of attendees, children, students, parents,” Police Chief Tony Lockard, with Gwinnett County Public Schools Police, said. ” We assure them we’re taking appropriate measures and we’re implementing additional safety precautions.”

RELATED: The loud bang heard at Discovery HS was fireworks, not gunfire, principal says.

Lockard also said there will be additional police presence.

Last Friday, an incident led to a large group running out of the stadium during a football game.

Despite rumors, Lockard said there was no evidence of gunshots and the investigation into the disruption is ongoing.

“Whenever you have a large group of students, a mob, it leads to the possibility of innocent people getting hurt,” he said.

Additionally, school officials said recent online threats to schools were not credible, but taken seriously.

“We’ve seen copycats where they take an image of it and repost it for other schools,” Lockard said. “So if it is determined to be someone’s intent to cause a threat at another school, that individual can face consequences.”

Police are still looking to identify any people involved in last Friday’s incident, adding there could be criminal charges.

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