WELLINGTON, Fla. (WSVN) — A South Florida mother was trampled and badly injured in the chaos after gunfire broke out at a Wellington high school football game.
Family, friends and classmates at the Palm Beach Central High School football game fled in a panic when bullets began to fly, Saturday.
Two people were shot and a mother, 55-year-old Kimberly Briard, was trampled as people ran for their lives.
Briard was knocked to the ground and remains in the hospital, Monday. The family said Briard may need to have her hip replaced.
“It was a wall of people all in panic mode,” said the victim’s husband, Bill Briard. “Almost literally running for their lives.”
Those who went to the football game said people were running for their lives.
“We was just watching the game, and the cheerleaders and the football players started running, so everybody in the stands started running,” said a student. “I’m running down the stairs, I hear boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.”
Witnesses said the ambiance changed quickly once everyone knew what the loud sounds were.
“I heard those gunshots, and I looked up thinking they were fireworks ’cause they were doing pretty good and thought they were fireworks at first, but they weren’t,” said another student, “’cause as soon as I saw the top left of their stadium dispersing, and then our team started dispersing, we ran.”
Briard was at the game to see her daughter Karly Briard cheer.
“Everyone was trampling over each other, pushing each other trying to get out of there as fast as they could,” said the victim’s daughter.
Her husband helped her up after the fall, and even with a fractured hip, Briard’s only thought was to get to her daughter.
“It’s amazing what a little adrenaline will do to you, especially when you’re looking for your daughter,” said the victim’s husband.
Her daughter said she was distraught when she saw her mother in the ambulance. “I thought she got shot, to be honest,” she said.
Investigators said the two victims were targeted.
“The bad guys in this were not there to shoot students, they were not there to go in and randomly kill a bunch of people,” said Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw. “They know who they were looking for, they just happened to be able to find them on the perimeter of that football game.”
One of the gunshot victims is in critical condition.
Briard is currently waiting for hip surgery.
Less than 48 hours after the shooting, the school district announced new security measures for the rest of this year’s football season.
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