St. Cloud Schools Add Metal Detectors, Earlier Start Times for Football and Soccer Games

(KNSI) – Fans heading to St. Cloud high school football and soccer games will need to arrive earlier and walk through metal detectors starting this Friday.

St. Cloud Area School District 742 announced Wednesday that it is adding new security measures for the rest of the fall season. Every spectator will be screened at the gate, and anyone who sets off an alert will get additional screening. Only clear bags or small bags no larger than five inches by eight inches will be allowed, and every bag will be searched.

Games will also start earlier. All football and soccer contests will begin at 4:30 p.m., and fans will be expected to leave the facility and grounds promptly after the game ends.

District 742 is encouraging spectators to arrive early, bring only what they need, and talk with their children about the new expectations before attending.

The district says the changes respond to an increase in safety-related incidents both statewide and locally.

In St. Cloud, police are still working to identify more of the roughly dozen juveniles involved in an attack on a boy last month. Officers were called to the 600 block of 15th Street South at 3:58 p.m. on Tuesday, September 22nd, and found a boy had been assaulted by 10 to 12 other juveniles. A woman who tried to step in was hit with a bat by an unknown male. Both suffered minor injuries.

Two St. Cloud boys were arrested and are being held in secure detention on felony charges connected to the attack, and police say more arrests are expected as others involved are identified. Anyone with information is asked to call St. Cloud police at 320-251-1200 or Tri-County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-255-1301.

The district’s announcement comes less than a week after gunfire outside a homecoming game in Eden Prairie. Police said a large fight broke out on the west side of the stadium, and shortly afterward, officers responded to a report of a shooting in a parking lot during the game against Minnetonka. The game was stopped in the fourth quarter so the stadium could be evacuated. The two people shot, ages 17 and 18, were not students at Eden Prairie or Minnetonka, and authorities believe the shooting was targeted. Eden Prairie police have called the shooting gang-related.

It’s not the first time violence has spilled into high school events in the metro. Earlier this year, prosecutors sought a court order barring members of two rival groups, known as Muddy and Ville, from the Minnesota State Fair, arguing the groups were linked to a series of violent incidents, including shootings at two high school graduation ceremonies.

KNSI News has asked St. Cloud police and the school district whether gang activity is connected to any of the local incidents behind the new rules. As of posting, neither had responded.

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