TOLEDO, Ohio — Brad Hathaway has been coaching high school sports since 1978 and said he has witnessed shootings at other football games before.
"Unfortunately, I’ve been through this kind of thing before," Hathaway said.
He was one of many people at a Whitmer High School football game against Central Catholic High School on Friday when three people were wounded in a shooting in the fourth quarter.
"At first I thought there was a fight, so I just turned and looked at the crowd but then I heard two gunshots. So, I knew in that situation you just get down."
Mia, a six-year-old kindergarten student was standing beside him when his instincts kicked in.
"The next thing I thought of was getting Mia down on the ground and then everyone started running," Hathaway said. "I just told Mia to stay down and we will just let the police do their job."
According to a police report, the victims of the shooting are Maurice Winfree, 21, of Toledo, Breanna Burwell, 28, of Kissimmee, Fla., and a 17-year-old Whitmer High School student. WTOL 11 does not name underage victims of non-fatal shootings.
All three are expected to make a full recovery.
Hathaway said the Toledo community is desensitized to gun violence, and change is needed.
Dr. Shay Bankston, a clinical mental health therapist in Toledo who specializes in working with youth and families, said desensitization is a common response to trauma.
But, she said trauma always shows its effects on a person in different ways.
"Usually after a traumatic incident, people will notice that it can affect your sleep, your appetite and just your ability to feel safe and secure in your environment," Bankston said.
She said healing from trauma requires everyone in a community to work together and focus on all forms of trauma, as well as the way children deal with trauma.
"In the mental health field historically, we have not looked at social and environmental trauma and we have not looked at youth and kids having PTSD," Bankston said. "So, we have to really consider what does this do to a child's mind?"