A Friday night homecoming football game in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, descended into chaos after gunfire outside the high school stadium injured two people and forced an evacuation. What should have been a festive evening instead ended with a major police response and a shaken community.

The Eden Prairie Police Department said officers responded at approximately 8:40 p.m. following a report of shots fired. The game between Eden Prairie and Minnetonka was evacuated as authorities secured the scene.

Police said two people suffered injuries that were not life threatening and were transported to Hennepin County Medical Center for treatment. Authorities said neither injured person was a student at Eden Prairie High School or Minnetonka High School.

In a Facebook post, the department said investigators believe the shooting was targeted. No arrests had been made, the investigation remained active, and police said additional information would be released when available.

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The fallout quickly spread beyond the football stadium. Eden Prairie High School principal Dr. Jaysen Anderson announced Saturday that the school would not hold its homecoming dance that evening.

Anderson said the school believed it had the planning, resources, and support necessary to make the dance safe and enjoyable. Still, he concluded that holding the event less than 24 hours after trauma in the community would be inappropriate.

The principal said too many students, employees, and families had been directly affected by the incident. He also said the school needed to be ready to support students and staff when they returned to the building Monday.

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Democrat Gov. Tim Walz responded to the shooting on social media late Friday. “No homecoming, in any community, should be disrupted by gun violence. Minnesotans are keeping students and families in our thoughts tonight.”

That familiar political phrase did not settle the question of who was allegedly responsible. Alpha News reporter Liz Collin reported that police sources identified the incident as Somali gang violence, rather than merely describing it with the broad label of gun violence.

CrimeWatchMpls, in an update Collin shared, reported that two people had been transported to the hospital and that a large police presence remained at the stadium. Community members were asked to avoid the area while authorities continued investigating.

The reported circumstances carry political weight because Minnesota voters are approaching November’s midterm elections. Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan is asking voters to elect her to the United States Senate, while Republican nominee Michele Tafoya is running against her.

Recent polling described in the source showed Tafoya and Flanagan locked in a dead heat with only weeks remaining before the election. The shooting now adds another grim public safety episode to a campaign already shaped by sharp criticism of Minnesota’s Democratic leadership.

Flanagan also faces criticism over a fraud scandal that unfolded in the state while she served as lieutenant governor. She has acted as though she knew little about the scandal and blasted a recent campaign advertisement as badly disconnected from Minnesota’s problems.

That advertisement attacked supposed cuts to SNAP and Medicaid. The Trump administration has argued that the One Big Beautiful Bill targets waste, fraud, and abuse rather than denying assistance to Americans who genuinely need it.

For critics of Walz and Flanagan, the contrast is politically brutal. Democrats are warning voters about social programs while families in a suburban Minnesota community could not finish a high school football game or attend a homecoming dance because gunfire shattered the celebration.

Minnesota’s Democratic leaders have also faced criticism for responding to such crimes with attacks on gun rights rather than confronting lawlessness. The broader point is simple: students should be able to attend football games and homecoming celebrations without fearing that they could be injured or killed.

Control of the United States Senate could hinge on races such as Minnesota’s contest between Flanagan and Tafoya. With President Trump’s America First agenda also at stake in the 2026 midterms, the consequences extend far beyond one state and one deeply unsettling Friday night.

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