An annual early season Arkansas rivalry game descended into madness on Saturday when fans thought they heard a shot fired. Instead, it appears an incident of disorderly conduct sparked the bedlam that canceled the 2018 Salt Bowl between Benton and Bryant High Schools.
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As reported by our TEGNA partner and CBS affiliate KTHV, there was no formal shooting incident that occurred at Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium. That was contrary to reports of an active shooter incident at the stadium when fans began scrambling for the exits. When reports of a shooter at the stadium came in, Little Rock police, the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office and Arkansas State Park Rangers secured the stadium, also determining that there wasn’t an actual shooting in the process.
That’s not to say that the crazed reaction in the third quarter of the annual grudge match wasn’t justified. As you can see in the video below from KTHV reporter Michael Aaron, the panic inside the stadium was all encompassing.
In the end, a sole teenage girl was arrested outside the stadium and charged with disorderly conduct, but that was connection to the mass exodus from the stadium, not what caused it. Given the remarkable high school attendance of 38,000, it’s fairly remarkable that no one was more injured than they were.
As for the game, it was abandoned in the third quarter following the panic, with Bryant named a 28-14 victor.
