Incident between fans causes basketball game to be cancelled

OSCEOLA, Ark. (KAIT) - A hectic night on the hardwood, in what started as a varsity boys’ matchup in basketball between Marked Tree and Osceola turned into something much different when fans were forced to leave the game.

This came after there was an altercation between fans on Thursday, Dec. 15, where the school’s Superintendent Dr. Toriano Green felt like they needed to stop the game for the safety of everyone.

“If we feel as a collective unit that the safety of any patrons is going to be at stake we put our safety precautions into motion,” Green said.

The Osceola Police Department currently has no evidence to even say a criminal act occurred at the high school and caused the initial panic.

The story gained traction on social media after officers responded to a shooting earlier in the day on East Hale Avenue at around 4:30 p.m.

From there, people began to question if the two incidents were connected, but the police don’t think so.

“As far as we know now without 100% confirmation of everything, we believe they are two completely separate incidents with no relation with one another,” Captain William Skaggs said.

At the end of the day, Dr. Green said all sporting events are safe and encouraged people to come out and support the Seminoles.

“Feel free to come and attend all events here at Seminole Arena as well as the Osceola Football Stadium when we open back up, we are a safe school, and again we just put safety first,” he said.

Region 8 News is working to obtain video from the scene and will update this story once we get it.

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