DALLAS — Cheerleaders and families from the Pittsburgh area attending a national competition in Texas got caught up in an active shooter scare.
In videos shared widely online, thousands of cheerleaders, parents, and coaches ran from what they thought was an active shooter. Police later confirmed no shots were fired, but a local coach tells Channel 11 News the damage for some was already done.
“They just said ‘run,’ and me and other coaches and everyone backstage with us started running for the exit,” said Caleigh Epolito, a coach at Rain Athletics.
Epolito and her team traveled from McKeesport to Dallas over the weekend to participate in a two-day national competition.
“For our particular team that we took for this event, it’s 13-years-old to 18-years-old, but there are athletes as young as five,” Epolito said.
On Saturday, just after 1 p.m., as her team waited to compete, Epolito shared that chaos broke out inside the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.
“We felt very helpless, there was so much that we didn’t know going on, there were over 30,000 spectators at this event,” Epolito said.
Epolito said while her team wasn’t yet inside the building, coaches had gathered in the arena to cheer on another local team that was set to take the stage. That’s when it happened, a loud boom and then another, staff quickly told Epolito and others in the area to run.
“We got backstage, and the staff told us to stay put, and that’s when someone said they think there was an active shooter,” Epolito said.
Epolito couldn’t find out those reports were inaccurate until much later, and that no shots were fired.
The Rain Athletic squad, while shaken up, still went on to compete the next day. Epolito said two good things have come from this scary ordeal.
The first was extra safety precautions.
“I do think that this will elicit some change for the better in our industry,” she said.
The second is that her team, despite everything, took first place in their division for the first time in team history.
“They are such resilient kids; they truly are. We are so proud of them always,” she said.
Dallas police confirmed a fight between two people led to multiple poles being knocked down, which caused the loud noises mistaken for gunshots.
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