The annual Battle of the Birds football game between Mayfield High School and Graves County High School ended in tragedy Friday, after a shooting in a parking lot near War Memorial Stadium left one adult injured.
The Mayfield Police Department is investigating the shooting. In a release issued early Saturday morning, MPD chief Nathan Kent confirmed that the victim — whose name has not yet been released — had been transported by ambulance to Jackson Purchase Medical Center in Graves County and later flown to Nashville for treatment.
Several members of the public have said in social media posts that multiple shots rang out during the fourth quarter. Video from WYMC Radio shows players and fans running away from the field after they heard the shots being fired. The game did not finish, and was suspended with Mayfield leading 40-7.
Mayfield Independent Schools announced in the wake of the shooting that counselors would be on site at Mayfield High School Saturday to talk with any students, staff or members of the community between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
All Mayfield school activities are canceled for this weekend.
GCHS confirmed all of its students were “safe and accounted for” on social media after the shooting.
In a social media post Saturday, GCHS principal Janet Throgmorton said the night before was “a traumatic event for all involved.”
“While we are shaken, we will not live in fear. As a school and as a community, we will find the strength within us to overcome,” she said.
Throgmorton also said members of the West Kentucky Education Cooperative’s adult education team and GCHS counselors would be available at the school Monday for students and staff.
Mayfield mayor Kathy O’Nan issued a statement Saturday morning telling the community to “remember who we are.”
“We will continue to react as we always do when we are hit hard - we come together and become a unified community of people who are determined to support each other and protect our children,” she said. “We will remain, as always, Mayfield and Graves County Strong.”
Competitors in another western Kentucky rivalry game between Paducah Tilghman High School and McCracken County High School came together in a circle after their matchup to pray for the community of Graves County and Mayfield.
MPD was assisted on the scene Friday by the Kentucky State Police, the Graves County Sheriff’s Office, Mayfield EMS and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF).
