BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — A 17-year-old was shot and killed near the football stadium at Independence High School during a varsity game against Centennial High School, and a 15-year-old suspect was arrested the following morning.
Levi Jermaine Carter Brown was shot by a 15-year-old male juvenile during a fight on basketball courts next to the stadium. Brown died from his injuries at the hospital. The suspect was arrested late Saturday morning.
Bakersfield Police Chief Brent Stratton said he began receiving personal phone calls from people in the stands as the incident unfolded.
"I actually began receiving phone calls personally from people that were in the stands as well, and I had some notifications about that. And so made some phone calls in to try to determine what exactly was going on, speaking with our watch commander and started working on developing a response. Our officers were already responding," Stratton said.
Stratton said the response involved multiple agencies, including the Kern High School District Police Department, which was already on scene, and the Kern County Sheriff's Office.
"I'd also like to recognize the current high school district police department was on scene already when this occurred. Kern County Sheriff's Office was close by and lent a hand, and then we had officers from the police department responding," Stratton said.
Stratton said he has been monitoring social media reaction since the shooting and expressed sympathy for both families involved.
"I feel along with our community just the sense of tragedy and a tremendous amount of sympathy and empathy for the family of our victim as well as for the family of the young man who perpetrated this crime, two lives that are forever changed, and it's a terrible thing to see," Stratton said.
He also praised the first responders' efforts.
"I was also very proud of the first responders' response, including medical aid that was trying to get there as quick as possible, being able to move to a hospital, try to make life saving efforts," Stratton said.
Stratton acknowledged the fear the shooting has created among parents and families while noting that gun violence near school events, though not new, is rare.
"This type of crime is not new to our community, but it's thankfully very rare in the location in which it occurs, and with the proximity to other people who are uninvolved and who are innocent. It's an unfortunate reality that gun violence touches our community and always has in any community in America," Stratton said.
He said the ages of those involved are consistent with what police see in gang-related shootings.
"The age range really isn't any different from what we see a lot of other times as well. This is the unfortunate reality that people involved in gang shootings are oftentimes about this age," Stratton said.
"It's a tragic set of circumstances though they never got a chance to grow up. I know so many people who have made changes in their lives and gone on to live happy and productive lives from gang involvement as young men, and it's a real tragedy all the way around," Stratton said.
With games scheduled for the coming Friday, Stratton said he has been in contact with the Kern High School District throughout the weekend to discuss security options.
"I've been in contact with the current high school district police department as well as the current high school district all weekend and working through what those things might look like," Stratton said.
"As always the Bakersfield Police Department wants to be a good partner to anyone in our community, especially the current high school district, and anything that we can do to help and support we're happy to do," Stratton said.
Stratton also addressed community calls for metal detectors at games, saying the conversation is worth having.
"Those are things that we should be talking about as a community and be talking about what safety and security looks like for us and what are we willing to put up with and what are we not. And if we are willing to do wands and magnetometers and set up things like you're going into Disneyland or to a concert, imagine a little bit longer queued lines. Imagine increased staff. Imagine increased costs," Stratton said.
"When you're talking about safety and security, there's no value to put on that. So it'll be interesting to see where the community goes and what they'd like to see. But from a police department's background we're always in favor of additional security and additional scrutiny," Stratton said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy
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