A usual Friday night football game suddenly erupted into a frantic scene as a number of people fled the Palm Beach Central High football stadium following a shooting on Aug. 17. Two adult males were injured, leaving one in critical condition and injuring others from being trampled. Shots rung at approximately 9:10 p.m. in the school’s parking lot during a preseason football showcase. Authorities currently have no suspects in custody and have not classified the shooting as a “school shooting” since the incident occurred in the parking lot and did not involve students.

West Shore student Natasha Mozdzen has a cousin, Diego Aguilar, that was sitting on the bleachers at the football game when the shooting took place. He said he initially did not understand what was happening.

“At first when people [were] running I thought it was part of a celebration since the game was almost over and we were in the lead,” Aguilar said. “Then I heard panicking and screaming. There wasn’t any time to think. It was all about ‘I need to get out of here.’ The scariest part was when I stopped to look at my friends and they weren’t there.”

Mozdzen said she was in shock after discovering her cousin was at the football game.

“Just the thought of him being hurt or losing him made it hard to contain myself,” Mozdzen said. “We didn’t know he was safe until an hour later, after his mom called us.”

Mozdzen said that this is an eye-opening experience, especially since she thinks society considers shootings as a common event.

“This reminded me that the worst things can happen to the people you love when you least expect it,” she said. “When you hear a shooting happened in the news and it doesn’t surprise you, there’s way too many shootings happening. In fact, one shooting is already too many.”