Police said a tip helped them stop a potential mass shooting at a Texas high school homecoming football game and led to the arrests of two 18-year-old men.
Brandon Gipson and Isaac Cooper were taken into custody Friday after authorities conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle that was headed to the Everman High School game. An AR pistol and a 60-round magazine were found in the vehicle, Everman Emergency Services said on Facebook.
The department said it was clear the suspects were "coming to do harm."
A Tarrant County sheriff’s deputy got a tip about a "credible and potentially imminent threat" at the game. The tip included information that a person was on his way to the game "with the intent of utilizing a firearm in which he had obtained earlier" that day, according to Everman Emergency Services.
A heavy law enforcement presence was already at the game, and more law enforcement was dispatched after the tip came in.
Everman police were given information about a suspect vehicle and saw the car in question near the stadium's entrance. Officers conducted a traffic stop and arrested Gipson, Cooper and another person in the vehicle.
The third person, a 14-year-old boy who hasn’t been identified, was released to his parents, according to NBC Dallas-Fort Worth.
Everman Emergency Services said the quick action possibly saved lives.
"Their actions prevented any sort of incident at the game. Following this incident, there was no additional threat to those in attendance of the game," the department said.
About 1,500 people were at the game, Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn told NBC Dallas-Fort Worth.
Waybourn told reporters that “everything went right” and that a possible tragedy was avoided, the station reported.
“It would’ve been a nightmare of a mass shooting down there possibly with multiple people seriously injured or killed,” he said.
The Everman Independent School District also thanked authorities.
"We are grateful and very appreciative of the support, protection, and quick action taken by the police on Friday night," Superintendent Felicia Donaldson said in a statement.
"As always, safety is the district’s number one priority, and prior to this incident, the district had measures in place to help ensure safety at our games, such as increased police presence, metal detectors, no bags, student ID required for entry, and students must be accompanied by an adult. We will continue to implement these measures and increase police presence even more at our events."
A motive remains unclear. The school district said in a statement that it is believed "an individual was coming to shoot someone at the game."
Gipson and Cooper are in the custody of the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office. It's not clear whether they have obtained attorneys who can speak on their behalf.
The sheriff's office said they face several felony charges, according to NBC Dallas-Fort Worth.