High School football game canceled due to threats that were ruled credible

By KYW Staff

Click here for updates on this story

    COATESVILLE, Pennsylvania (KYW) — A Chester County high school football game has been canceled due to a number of online threats that were ruled credible, school officials announced. The game was scheduled between the Coatesville Area High School and Downington West High School for Friday night.

Earlier in the day, school officials announced the game was going to be played without spectators, but additional information from law enforcement led them to cancel the game.

Richard Dunlap, the interim superintendent of the Coatesville School District, issued a letter to the school community.

“I am very disappointed to have to make this decision. Again, after meeting with law enforcement, we simply cannot ensure adequate safety based on these threats. We are pleading with parents to please monitor your children’s social media accounts and speak with them about the serious nature of making threats. Any students found to be responsible for threats will be disciplined in accordance with our policies. We take these matters very seriously,” Dunlap wrote.

Anyone who purchased a ticket for the game will be refunded. The game will be streamed live on the Coatesville Athletics YouTube channel.

Students were dismissed at 12 p.m. Friday in order to get the campus prepared for the game. All after-school activities were canceled.

The homecoming activities scheduled for Saturday have not been canceled at this time.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.