MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Thursday night at a football jamboree, a teen was arrested carrying live ammunition across the field. It's not the first time a gun has been found at Crump Stadium.
Parents want to know what’s changing to stop it next time.
“It’s just super scary, right?" said MSCS mom Cortney Cook. " And we never know.”
Cook didn’t get a notice from Memphis-Shelby County Schools that a teen brought a glock to Crump Stadium Thursday.
Instead, she heard about it first from her husband, a high school football coach.
“It makes me want to think twice about all the activities my daughter is participating in,” said Cook.
Her daughter, 14, is a cheerleader for Whitehaven High School and was on the field performing Friday night.
The same field a teen ran across with a 9 mm Glock in his waistband during a live scrimmage on the field.
Just before, it was a parent who tipped off MSCS security that the teen had a gun. Memphis police said the that guard told the teen to come toward him.
Instead, the minor ran in the opposite way across the football field.
Cook urged her daughter to stay cautious.
“I told her to be super aware of her surroundings and to never get too comfortable no matter who she’s around,” she said.
Thursday’s incident happened nearly a year to the day two guns were found during a football game – also at Crump Stadium. Teens were arrested.
Cook shared what she thinks can the district do to ensure safety.
“The more that students and families know that security checks are routine, the more apprehensive people will be about doing those weird things," she said.
Cook explained after local and national school shootings this year and more crime rising she wants more action from leaders.
"Accessibility laws need to shift," she said. "At one point in time, we couldn’t imagine getting ahold of those things. I think it stops from the top down we can only do so much as parents. But if they leave things, (they) are at free rein.”
Friday, security told spectators not to bring backpacks or large purses.
Everyone entering must go through metal detectors or be wanded.
Meanwhile, the teen with that gun is expected in Juvenile Court on August 26.