2 Hospitalized After Shooting Outside of High School Football Game in Florida

A shooting outside Palm Beach Central High School during a preseason football game in Wellington, Florida, on Friday night left two victims hospitalized.

The Palm Beach Post reported players and fans inside the school's football stadium responded by "screaming and stampeding." The exhibition contest, which was in the fourth quarter when the shooting occurred, was not resumed after the incident.

Police said the two victims were both male and not students of the school. Palm Beach County school district communications director Kathy Burstein said all sporting events and practices are cancelled for the rest of the weekend, according to the Palm Beach Post.

Central held the lead over William T. Dwyer Community High School before the game was stopped.

"It was just a normal Friday night game and everybody's playing, everybody's having a good time," Central kicker Ivan Najera told the newspaper. "And then out of nowhere four shots went off by the bus loop area, and kids start running everywhere. Kids from the bleachers were running everywhere and no one knew what to do. It's crazy."

Running back Derrick Cruickshank added: "The game was going on and I was just paying attention and then, you know how fireworks are, I turned around and I thought it was a firework. You hear a few more shots and then things got real and I turned one more time to see everyone in the stands running."

Florida congressman Ted Deutch posted a message about the incident on Twitter:

Central opens the regular season with a road game next Friday night against Atlantic Community High School. It returns home to face John A. Ferguson Senior High School on Aug. 31.