Twenty Alaska high school students were part of a mass panic at the National Speech and Debate Association's tournament in Des Moines, Iowa on June 19.
No major injuries were reported by the association, but at least two Alaska teenagers have minor ones. A Kodiak teen has a bruised knee after she and a chaperone were trampled during the evacuation according to Kodiak’s coach, Jared Griffin. Another kid from Anchorage also has a few bruises after helping them in the rush.
According to a statement from the association, an “unidentified attendee” got on stage during finals and interrupted a performance. Shawn Briscoe, the University of Alaska Anchorage’s director of debate, was in the crowd. He said someone picked up a mic and told the audience “run.”
“People were moving for the doors and there were lots of scared people,” he said
The association’s statement goes on to say that the individual was subdued and removed from the premises. According to reporting from KCCI, a Des Moines TV station, one person is in custody, but police did not find any weapons on him or anywhere in the hall.
Tournament attendees from Alaska included students from Anchorage, Kodiak, Haines, and Juneau. All of the Alaska kids and their chaperones were quickly reunited after the panic.
“The Alaska community came together to help find each other and support each other and make sure that everyone knew where their students were, where the coaches were, where the parents were, and we got everybody connected back together,” Briscoe said.
The association initially planned to resume the tournament a few hours after the building was cleared, but ultimately postponed the remaining rounds to June 20.
Kodiak High School had four students at the tournament, and all are physically fine according to Coach Jared Griffin has already contacted the district’s superintendent and activities director and said they’re already preparing counselors for when the students return to the island on Saturday.
Editor's note: As a disclaimer, Jared Griffin is also KMXT's general manager, but did not see a copy of the story before it was broadcasted or posted.
